2009: Best Year for Movies in US History

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Also: Hear about the year’s best books. And listen to songs from hot artists we missed earlier in the year but who have made waves in the music world. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Faith Lapidus.

Happy New Year! Before we look ahead to two thousand ten, we want to talk about some of the best movies and books of two thousand nine.

And we play some great music we did not have a chance to play last year.

(MUSIC)

Best Movies

HOST:

Two thousand nine was the best year in history for movies in the United States. Movies earned more than ten billion dollars in ticket sales last year. This was helped by the steady increase in movie ticket prices. Shirley Griffith tells us about some of the best movies of last year.

SHIRLEY GRIFFITH:

Zoe Saldana as Neytiri in "Avatar"

Americans spent a record two hundred seventy-eight million dollars on movie tickets last weekend. The 3-D science fiction adventure movie, "Avatar," was the most popular film that weekend. Reports say "Avatar" cost more than three hundred million dollars to produce. Several film critics called it one of the best movies of last year.

"Avatar" uses special effects that have never been seen before in a movie. It combines live action, motion-capture, animation and computer-produced images. The movie is about a man who travels to a distant planet about one hundred fifty years in the future.

Several traditional movies also were named among the best of two thousand nine. One is "The Hurt Locker." It is a tense and exciting movie about American soldiers in Iraq whose job is to find and safely destroy hidden explosive devices.

(SOUND: "Hurt Locker")

"Up in the Air" is also on many critics' list of best movies of the year.

George Clooney as Ryan Bingham in "Up in the Air"

(SOUND: "Up in the Air")

It stars George Clooney as a man who spends most of his life flying around the country to different cities. His job is to dismiss people from their jobs. This movie hits very close to home. It includes people who have really lost their jobs during this time of high unemployment in the United States.

Critics have also praised a movie called "Precious: Based on the Novel 'Push' by Sapphire." It is about an extremely overweight black teenager in the Harlem area of New York City. Precious suffers horrible sexual and physical abuse from both her parents. But caring teachers and social workers help her improve her life.

Two other favorite movies of last year are based on children's books. "Where the Wild Things Are" is a live action film based on the popular book by Maurice Sendak. A young boy named Max runs away from his mother and sails to an island full of frightening-looking creatures. And critics also liked "Fantastic Mister Fox" based on a book by Roald Dahl. This stop-motion animation movie was called creative and fun for both children and adults.

Best Books

HOST:

In December, many newspapers and booksellers in the United States publish lists of the year's best books. Steve Ember tells us about several favorites of two thousand nine.

STEVE EMBER:

"A Gate at the Stairs" is writer Lorrie Moore's first book in over ten years. It takes place in two thousand one shortly after the terrorist attacks on America. It tells about a young girl named Tassie who attends college in the Midwest. She takes a job as a babysitter for a woman and her husband who have adopted a child of mixed race. It is a funny, sad and emotional story about marriage, race, family, terrorism and war.

Critics also praised the latest book by Irish writer Colm Toibin. "Brooklyn" is about a young Irish girl named Eilis. Her family sends her to live in the Brooklyn area of New York City in the nineteen fifties. Mister Toibin describes how she slowly gets used to her new life in America. Eilis soon falls in love with a kind Italian-American young man named Tony. Eilis must return to Ireland because of a family tragedy. She must choose between Tony and her family.

"Cutting for Stone" was written by the medical doctor and writer Abraham Verghese. It is a powerful story about twin brothers born in a Catholic hospital in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia. Their mother, an Indian nurse at the hospital, dies in childbirth. Their father, a British doctor, flees as soon as they are born. The brothers are raised by two Indian doctors who live at the hospital. One brother later moves to the United States. This is a story about the extremes of love, family, and medicine.

Other top books include the British historical novel "Wolf Hall" by Hilary Mantel. It is about King Henry the Eighth and his advisor Thomas Cromwell. Daniyal Mueenuddin's book "In Other Rooms, Other Wonders," was also noted as one of the best books of last year. It is a collection of linked short stories about the lives of very rich and very poor people in Pakistan.

Critics also praised several non-fiction books. They include Terry Teachout's book "Pops", about the jazz great Louis Armstrong. "Lords of Finance" by Liaquat Ahamed tells about the financial crisis during the nineteen twenties. And, in "Lit: A Memoir," Mary Karr tells about her struggles with motherhood, marriage and alcohol.

Music We Missed

HOST:

We play a lot of great music on American Mosaic. But there are just not enough shows in a year to play everything. So today we play music from some of the best albums we missed in two thousand nine.

We start with the rapper Fabolous. His two thousand nine album, "Loso's Way," came with a DVD starring the rapper and some of his friends.

Singer Keri Hilson performs with Fabolous on "Everything, Everyday, Everywhere" from "Loso's Way."

(MUSIC)

Neko Case

Neko Case is a singer-songwriter who has gained some fame as a member of the indie rock band the New Pornographers. But she also has a career on her own. Last year, she excited music critics with the release of "Middle Cyclone," her fifth studio album. It went to number one on the American indie music charts. The first song on the recording is "This Tornado Loves You."

(MUSIC)

"Veckatimest" is the latest CD from Grizzly Bear, the Brooklyn, New York-based indie rock band. It is on most critics' lists of best rock or indie albums of the year. The album was named for a small island off the coast of Massachusetts. The band spent some time near there recording the album. One of the most popular songs from "Veckatimest" is "Two Weeks."

(MUSIC)

Finally, there is Paramore. The five member band got its start in Tennessee in two thousand four. All of the musicians are under the age of twenty-five. Not surprisingly, Paramore's sound is youthful and energetic. We leave you with "Turn it Off," from the Paramore album, "Brand New Eyes."

(MUSIC)

HOST:

I'm Faith Lapidus. Our program was written by Shelley Gollust, Dana Demange and Caty Weaver, who was also the producer.

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

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A Review of Education Reports This Past Year

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What Do You Want To Know About Education in the United States? Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Education Report.

Early this year, Special English began receiving comments about all the stories on our Web site. The Education Reports have received many comments.

We began the year in the middle of our Foreign Student Series. These were reports about how foreign students could attend a college or university in the United States.

Students gathered at the International Students Assembly at the University of Southern California

The report that received the most comments--seventy-three--told how to qualify for free training at an American community college. The next highest number of comments was forty-nine. They were about a report on services at American colleges that help foreign students adjust to studying in the United States. Close behind with forty-eight comments was a report about financial aid. Forty-seven comments followed a story about college student grade expectations. And forty-six people wrote in reaction to our guide to writing college papers.

Other education stories this past year included the deaths of college test preparation pioneer Stanley Kaplan and music educator Bess Lomax Hawes. We explained the work of school nurses. We presented comments about American high schools from foreign exchange students. We discussed the California digital textbook program as well as the use of digital textbooks in general. We talked to education experts about teaching handwriting, choosing a college, and publishing research in medical journals. And we looked at the job market for American college graduates as well as for foreign students who finish their educations at American colleges.

In the coming year, we would also like your help. Please write with suggestions or questions you would like us to answer about American education. Earlier this month, for example, we answered a question about educational technology.

And we are preparing to answer a few other questions. One is about educator John Dewey. Another is about the United States Military Academy at West Point.

Post your comments and questions at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, including our Foreign Student Series. We wish you all the best in the New Year, and look forward to hearing from you.

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I'm Shirley Griffith.

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American History Series: President Lincoln is Shot at Ford's Theater

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Less than a week after the North’s victory, President Lincoln is murdered. Transcript of radio broadcast:

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

On April ninth, eighteen sixty-five, Confederate General Robert E. Lee surrendered his army to Union General Ulysses Grant. Within weeks, the Civil War would be over.

When people in Washington learned of Lee's surrender, they hurried to the White House. The crowd wanted to hear from President Abraham Lincoln.

The speech he gave would be one of his last, as Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe explain this week in our series.

VOICE ONE:

One of the last portraits taken of President Lincoln

President Lincoln spoke several days after General Lee's surrender. The people expected a victory speech. But Lincoln gave them something else.

Already, he was moving forward from victory to the difficult times ahead. The southern rebellion was over. Now, he faced the task of re-building the Union. Lincoln did not want to punish the South. He wanted to re-join the ties that the Civil War had broken. So, when the people of the North expected a speech of victory, he gave them a speech of reconstruction, instead.

On the night of April eleventh, Lincoln appeared before a crowd outside the White House. He held a candle in one hand and his speech in the other.

VOICE TWO:

"Fellow citizens," Lincoln said. "We meet this evening not in sorrow, but in gladness of heart. The surrender of the main army of the Confederacy gives hope of a righteous and speedy peace. The joy cannot be held back. By these recent successes, we have had pressed more closely upon us the question of reconstruction.

"We all agree," Lincoln continued, "that the so-called seceded states are out of their correct relation with the Union. We also agree that what the government is trying to do is get these states back into their correct relation.

"I believe it is not only possible, but in fact easier to do this without deciding the legal question of whether these states have ever been out of the Union. Finding themselves safely at home, it would be of no importance whether they had ever been away."

VOICE ONE:

There was cheering and applause when President Lincoln finished, but less than when he began. The speech had been too long and too detailed to please the crowd. Lincoln, however, believed it a success. He hoped he had made the country understand one thing: the great need to forget hatred and bitterness in the difficult time of re-building that would follow the war.

The president continued to discuss his ideas on reconstruction over the next few days. On Friday, April fourteenth, he agreed to put this work aside for a while.

In the afternoon, he took his wife Mary for a long drive away from the city. In the evening, they would go to the theater.

VOICE TWO:

One of the popular plays of the time, called "Our American Cousin," was being performed at Ford's Theater, not far from the White House. The Secretary of War did not want the Lincolns to go alone. He ordered an army officer to go with them.

The President and Misses Lincoln sat in special seats at Ford's Theater. The presidential box was above and to one side of the stage. A guard always stood outside the door to the box. On this night, however, the guard did not remain. He left the box unprotected.

VOICE ONE:

A picture representing the shooting of President Lincoln at Ford's Theater

President Lincoln settled down in his seat to enjoy the play. As he did so, a man came to the door of the box. He carried a gun in one hand and a knife in the other. The man entered the presidential box quietly. He slowly raised the gun. He aimed it at the back of Lincoln's head. He fired.

Then the man jumped from the box to the stage three meters below. Many in the theater recognized him. He was an actor: John Wilkes Booth.

Booth broke his leg when he hit the stage floor. But he pulled himself up, shouted "Sic semper tyrannis!" -- "Thus ever to tyrants!" -- and ran out the door. He got on a horse, and was gone.

VOICE TWO:

The attack was so quick that the audience did not know what had happened. Then a woman shouted, "The president has been shot!"

Lincoln had fallen forward in his seat, unconscious. Someone asked if it was possible to move him to the White House. A young army doctor said no. The president's wound was terrible. He would die long before reaching the White House.

So Lincoln was moved to a house across the street from Ford's Theater. A doctor tried to remove the bullet from the president's head. He could not. Nothing could be done, except wait. The end was only hours away.

VOICE ONE:

A print showing President Lincoln on his death bed

Cabinet members began to arrive, while wild reports spread through the city: the Confederates had declared war again! There was fighting in the streets!

An official of the War Department described the situation. "The extent of the plot was unknown. From so horrible a beginning, what might come next. How far would the bloody work go. The safety of Washington must be looked after. The people must be told. The assassin and his helpers must be captured."

VOICE TWO:

Early the next morning, April fifteenth, Abraham Lincoln died. A prayer was said over his body. His eyes were closed.

The news went out by telegraph to cities and towns across the country. People read the words, but could not believe them. To millions of Americans, Abraham Lincoln's death was a personal loss. They had come to think of him as more than the President of the United States. He was a trusted friend.

People hung black cloth on their doors in sorrow. Even the South mourned for Lincoln, its former enemy. Southern General Joe Johnston said: "Mr. Lincoln was the best friend we had. His death is the worst thing that could happen for the South."

VOICE ONE:

Messages of regret came from around the world.

British labor groups said they could never forget the things Lincoln had said about working people. Things such as: "The strongest tie of human sympathy should be one uniting all working people of all nations and tongues."

A group representing hundreds of French students sent this message:

"In President Lincoln we mourn a fellow citizen. There are no longer any countries shut up in narrow frontiers. Our country is everywhere where there are neither masters nor slaves. Wherever people live in liberty or fight for it. We look to the other side of the ocean to learn how a people which has known how to make itself free, knows how to preserve its freedom."

The assassination of Abraham Lincoln touched the imagination of America's writers. Many tried to put their feelings into words. Walt Whitman wrote several poems of mourning. Here is part of one of them, "O Captain! My Captain!"

READER:

Here captain! Dear father!

This arm beneath your head!

It is some dream that on the deck,

You've fallen cold and dead.

My captain does not answer, his lips are pale and still,

My father does not feel my arm, he has no pulse nor will.

The ship is anchor'd safe and sound, its voyage closed and done,

From fearful trip the victor ship comes in with object won;

Exult o shores, and ring o bells!

But I with mournful tread,

Walk the deck my captain lies,

Fallen cold and dead.

VOICE TWO:

Walt Whitman

Abraham Lincoln was assassinated in the spring. That is the time of year when lilac plants burst into flower throughout much of the United States. One of Walt Whitman's most beautiful poems in honor of Lincoln is called, "When Lilacs Last in the Dooryard Bloomed." Here is part of that poem.

READER:

When lilacs last in the dooryard bloom'd

And the great star early droop'd in the western sky in the night,

I mourned, and yet shall mourn with ever-returning spring.

Ever-returning spring, trinity sure to me you bring,

Lilac blooming perennial and drooping star in the west,

And thought of him I love. . .

Coffin that passes through lanes and streets,

Through day and night with the great cloud darkening the land. . .

With the countless torches lit,

With the silent sea of faces and the unbared heads. . .

With the tolling, tolling bells' perpetual clang,

Here, coffin that slowly passes,

I give you my sprig of lilac.

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

Our program was written by Harold Berman and Frank Beardsley. The narrators were Kay Gallant and Harry Monroe, and the poems were read by Shep O'Neal. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs, plus historical images, at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can follow us on Twitter at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for THE MAKING OF A NATION -- an American history series in VOA Special English.

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2009: A Year of Discovery and Promise in Space

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Scientists found water on the moon and methane gas on Mars. NASA also tested a new rocket that could help humans reach both of those places in the solar system. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I'm Mario Ritter.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. This week, we tell about some of the biggest space stories of two thousand nine. First, there was the American space agency's discovery of water on the moon. We also talk to a NASA expert about the discovery of methane gas on Mars. And we hear about the test flight of NASA's newest rocket.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

An artist's picture of LCROSS

Possibly the biggest space story this year was the discovery of water on the moon. The best evidence was provided by a dramatic experiment carried out on October ninth. NASA used its Lunar Crater Observing and Sensing Satellite, or LCROSS, to look for water deep beneath the lunar surface.

To get below the ancient lunar rocks, NASA crashed a rocket into the moon's south pole. The crash caused soil to be expelled many kilometers above the lunar surface. LCROSS studied the soil before it too crashed into the moon. The experiment pushed the search for water several meters below the lunar surface—much deeper than had been possible before.

VOICE TWO:

LCROSS scientists Anthony Colaprete and Kim Ennico study early results from the lunar impact experiment

In November, Anthony Colaprete, a leading scientist with the LCROSS project, spoke about information gathered by the spacecraft. He said about one hundred kilograms of water had been found in the material ejected by the moon crash. Water has now been confirmed in amounts much greater than had been thought.

In September, NASA scientists had announced the discovery of water molecules mainly in the moon's extreme northern and southern areas. They noted, however, that they could also be seeing evidence of another molecule, hydroxyl.

VOICE ONE:

Instruments on three separate spacecraft gathered that evidence of lunar water. NASA's Moon Mineralogy Mapper made the most recent observations. It was one of eleven scientific devices carried by the Chandrayaan-One spacecraft of the Indian Space Research Organization.

The Mapper is a spectrometer, which measures reflected light wavelengths. The device shows scientists what an object is made of from great distances. Similar devices on NASA's Cassini and Epoxi spacecraft also reported water.

But those observations were made years ago. NASA scientists had not trusted the results without clear confirmation.

The Moon Mineralogy Mapper could only examine lunar soil to a depth of a few millimeters. And the amount of water found in that layer was very small. Now, LCROSS has shown that large amounts of water could exist on the moon. And it raises even more questions.

Was water brought to the moon by space rocks and icy bodies called comets? Or could processes deep within the moon produce water? If that is the case, it may be possible that the moon could hold enough water for future explorations or even colonies.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

An image showing methane on Mars

The presence of water on the moon was not the only major solar system discovery NASA made this year. In January, a team of NASA and university scientists announced that they had found methane gas on Mars. The group used NASA's Infrared Telescope Facility and the W.M. Keck telescope. Both instruments are in Mauna Kea, Hawaii. Methane is better known as natural gas. On Earth, it is mainly produced by processes linked to biology.

This raises the exciting possibility that life may have existed in the past on Mars. Or it may still exist deep below the surface. Michael Meyer is lead scientist for NASA's Mars Exploration Program in Washington. He spoke to us about the finding.

MICHAEL MEYER: "It really means that the planet is more active than we thought, and more active--and that can be geologically or maybe even biologically."

VOICE ONE:

On Earth, biological activity is very effective in making methane. But Michael Meyer notes that methane also can come from a purely non-biological process called serpentinization. He says the methane discovery presents scientists with a mystery because it is still not clear how the gas is being produced.

Martian methane is also unusual because it is not evenly spread over the planet. It can become concentrated in small areas and then disappear. This suggests processes that both supply and remove methane from the atmosphere in certain places. Currently, the best explanation for the loss of methane is that it chemically reacts with dust in the atmosphere. The gas may then turn into something else such as carbon dioxide.

VOICE TWO:

An artist's picture of how methane could be formed under the Martian surface

NASA plans to send the Mars Science Laboratory to the red planet in the autumn of two thousand eleven. The exploration vehicle will be able to measure methane even at very low levels in many places on the surface.

Michael Meyer also says NASA is developing an orbiter with European scientists. It will be able to measure small amounts of many different gases. The orbiter could finally provide evidence about how methane on Mars is created and destroyed. Michael Meyer says planetary scientists often study processes that are very different from ones on Earth. But he says understanding these differences can help discover how some complex processes on our own planet really work.

(SOUND: NASA Rocket Launch)

VOICE ONE:

The Ares 1-X launch at the Kennedy Space Center in Florida

On October twenty-eighth, NASA took an important step into the future. The agency carried out a test flight of its next-generation launch vehicle for astronauts.

NASA is developing two separate rockets for the Ares program. Phil Sumrall is the Ares Project Office Advanced Planning Manager. He says this was done for safety reasons.

The loss of the space shuttle Columbia in February of two thousand three led to an investigation by the Columbia Accident Investigation Board. The group recommended that human life must not be risked simply to send equipment into space. The result was a design in which safety was the top concern.

PHIL SUMRALL: "We designed the Ares One to be the absolute safest possible vehicle that we could conceive."

VOICE TWO:

Space scientists designed Ares One with a system that would rescue astronauts whether there was a failure of the rocket in the launch area or during flight. Mister Sumrall says NASA estimates the new Ares One will be twenty to thirty times safer than the Space Shuttle.

The other Ares launch vehicle is the huge Ares Five rocket. It will be the biggest rocket ever built. The Ares Five will be one hundred sixteen meters tall and weigh three point seven million kilograms. It will be able to lift nearly forty percent more than the Saturn Five rocket that sent Apollo astronauts to the moon.

VOICE ONE:

Much of the Ares technology has been developed from existing vehicles. Versions of the solid fuel rockets that are used on the Space Shuttle today will serve as the first stage of the Ares One and booster rockets on the Ares Five. An engine first developed for the Saturn Five moon rocket has been updated to be used on Ares.

Existing manufacturing technologies are also being used in new ways on Ares. The tanks of the Ares rockets will be made of aluminum lithium. This is a strong and light metal alloy that has been used on the Space Shuttle. But Ares will use new methods in metal-working science such as friction stir welding. This method uses heat and pressure to join pieces of metal together. Friction stir welding can be used to make complex curved and domed structures out of aluminum lithium and similar alloys. And, friction stir welding uses fewer workers at less cost than other methods.

Scientists developed the new welding technology at the Marshall Space Flight Center in Montgomery, Alabama. It will be used when Ares is built at the Michoud Assembly Facility in New Orleans, Louisiana.

VOICE TWO:

Phil Sumrall says NASA's estimate to keep the Ares program going forward as planned calls for three billion dollars in additional spending a year.

He says if money is available, Ares Five could be ready for a test flight by two thousand seventeen. We asked Phil Sumrall how NASA expects to use Ares in its space exploration plans.

PHIL SUMRALL: "It's not just for going to the moon or near Earth objects. It's what we'd use to go to, eventually, to Mars or to the moons of Mars."

NASA named the new rocket system Ares, the Greek name for Mars. The name suggests the goal for a future generation of space explorers. They may be the first humans to set foot on another planet.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

I'm Steve Ember with Mario Ritter who also wrote and produced our program. You can find links to the NASA Web site at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs. Join us again next week for EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

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Slow and Gentle Are Best in Treating Hypothermia

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Sudden movements of cold blood in the body can cause shock and a heart attack. Second of two reports. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

We talked last week about ways to avoid cold-weather injuries. Today we are going to talk about emergency treatment of hypothermia.

Hypothermia can be mild, moderate or severe. Mild hypothermia is something that most people have experienced if they live in cold climates. You feel so cold that your body starts to shake -- not very much, but uncontrollably.

An Italian climber is saved after suffering hypothermia and other injuries on Argentina's Mount Aconcagua in January

The treatment for mild hypothermia starts with getting out of the cold and, if necessary, changing into dry clothes. Drinking warm, non-alcoholic liquids and eating something sugary can stop the shivering.

Taking a warm bath or sitting by a fire or doing some exercise can also help the body warm up. These are all common sense treatments.

But treatment needs change when people enter the moderate or severe stages of hypothermia. In that situation, their body temperature drops below thirty-five degrees Celsius. They lose the ability to think clearly. Their muscles become stiff. They might bump into things or fall over objects.

We got advice from a park ranger experienced in search-and-rescue for the National Park Service in California. Adrienne Freeman explained that rescuers will first try to prevent additional heat loss. They will place extra covering around the chest, head and neck of hypothermia victims to keep them warm.

It is important to work fast to get people out of the cold. Hypothermia victims need medical help as soon as possible. But it is equally important to move them slowly and gently.

Any rough or sudden movement can force cold blood from the arms, legs and hands deep into the warmer middle of the body. The sudden flow of cold blood can create shock, a serious condition. It can also cause a dangerously abnormal heartbeat.

The process of "rewarming" a person needs to be done slowly, in a hospital setting. Ranger Freeman said members of search-and-rescue teams have a saying that victims are not dead until they are warm and dead.

An extremely low body temperature can cause the heart to beat so slowly that a pulse may be difficult to find. In other words, a person who is suffering from the effects of severe cold may seem dead, but still be alive.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver. If you missed last week's advice about how to avoid cold-weather injuries, you can find it at voaspecialenglish.com. And you can follow us on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Time -- One of the Great Mysteries of Our Universe

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Time on Earth is set by the Sun's position in the sky. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember. This week our program is about a mystery as old as time. Bob Doughty and Sarah Long tell about the mystery of time.

(THEME)

VOICE ONE:

If you can read a clock, you can know the time of day. But no one knows what time itself is. We cannot see it. We cannot touch it. We cannot hear it. We know it only by the way we mark its passing.

For all our success in measuring the smallest parts of time, time remains one of the great mysteries of the universe.

VOICE TWO:

One way to think about time is to imagine a world without time. There could be no movement, because time and movement cannot be separated.

A world without time could exist only as long as there were no changes. For time and change are linked. We know that time has passed when something changes.

VOICE ONE:

In the real world -- the world with time -- changes never stop. Some changes happen only once in a while, like an eclipse of the moon. Others happen repeatedly, like the rising and setting of the sun. Humans always have noted natural events that repeat themselves. When people began to count such events, they began to measure time.

In early human history, the only changes that seemed to repeat themselves evenly were the movements of objects in the sky. The most easily seen result of these movements was the difference between light and darkness.

The sun rises in the eastern sky, producing light. It moves across the sky and sinks in the west, causing darkness. The appearance and disappearance of the sun was even and unfailing. The periods of light and darkness it created were the first accepted periods of time. We have named each period of light and darkness -- one day.

VOICE TWO:

People saw the sun rise higher in the sky during the summer than in winter. They counted the days that passed from the sun's highest position until it returned to that position. They counted three hundred sixty-five days. We now know that is the time Earth takes to move once around the sun. We call this period of time a year.

VOICE ONE:

Early humans also noted changes in the moon. As it moved across the night sky, they must have wondered. Why did it look different every night? Why did it disappear? Where did it go?

Even before they learned the answers to these questions, they developed a way to use the changing faces of the moon to tell time.

The moon was "full" when its face was bright and round. The early humans counted the number of times the sun appeared between full moons. They learned that this number always remained the same -- about twenty-nine suns. Twenty-nine suns equaled one moon. We now know this period of time as one month.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Early humans hunted animals and gathered wild plants. They moved in groups or tribes from place to place in search of food. Then, people learned to plant seeds and grow crops. They learned to use animals to help them work, and for food.

They found they no longer needed to move from one place to another to survive.

As hunters, people did not need a way to measure time. As farmers, however, they had to plant crops in time to harvest them before winter. They had to know when the seasons would change. So, they developed calendars.

No one knows when the first calendar was developed. But it seems possible that it was based on moons, or lunar months.

When people started farming, the wise men of the tribes became very important. They studied the sky. They gathered enough information so they could know when the seasons would change. They announced when it was time to plant crops.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The divisions of time we use today were developed in ancient Babylonia four thousand years ago. Babylonian astronomers believed the sun moved around the Earth every three hundred sixty-five days. They divided the trip into twelve equal parts, or months. Each month was thirty days. Then, they divided each day into twenty-four equal parts, or hours. They divided each hour into sixty minutes, and each minute into sixty seconds.

VOICE TWO:

Sundial

Humans have used many devices to measure time. The sundial was one of the earliest and simplest.

A sundial measures the movement of the sun across the sky each day. It has a stick or other object that rises above a flat surface. The stick, blocking sunlight, creates a shadow. As the sun moves, so does the shadow of the stick across the flat surface. Marks on the surface show the passing of hours, and perhaps, minutes.

The sundial works well only when the sun is shining. So, other ways were invented to measure the passing of time.

VOICE ONE:

One device is the hourglass. It uses a thin stream of falling sand to measure time. The hourglass is shaped like the number eight --- wide at the top and bottom, but very thin in the middle. In a true "hour" glass, it takes exactly one hour for all the sand to drop from the top to the bottom through a very small opening in the middle. When the hourglass is turned with the upside down, it begins to mark the passing of another hour.

By the eighteenth century, people had developed mechanical clocks and watches. And today, many of our clocks and watches are electronic.

VOICE TWO:

Clock

So, we have devices to mark the passing of time. But what time is it now? Clocks in different parts of the world do not show the same time at the same time. This is because time on Earth is set by the sun's position in the sky above.

We all have a twelve o'clock noon each day. Noon is the time the sun is highest in the sky. But when it is twelve o'clock noon where I am, it may be ten o'clock at night where you are.

VOICE ONE:

As international communications and travel increased, it became clear that it would be necessary to establish a common time for all parts of the world.

In eighteen eighty-four, an international conference divided the world into twenty-four time areas, or zones. Each zone represents one hour. The astronomical observatory in Greenwich, England, was chosen as the starting point for the time zones. Twelve zones are west of Greenwich. Twelve are east.

The time at Greenwich -- as measured by the sun -- is called Universal Time. For many years it was called Greenwich Mean Time.

VOICE TWO:

Some scientists say time is governed by the movement of matter in our universe. They say time flows forward because the universe is expanding. Some say it will stop expanding some day and will begin to move in the opposite direction, to grow smaller. Some believe time will also begin to flow in the opposite direction -- from the future to the past. Can time move backward?

Most people have no trouble agreeing that time moves forward. We see people born and then grow old. We remember the past, but we do not know the future. We know a film is moving forward if it shows a glass falling off a table and breaking into many pieces. If the film were moving backward, the pieces would re-join to form a glass and jump back up onto the table. No one has ever seen this happen. Except in a film.

VOICE ONE:

Some scientists believe there is one reason why time only moves forward. It is a well-known scientific law -- the second law of thermodynamics. That law says disorder increases with time. In fact, there are more conditions of disorder than of order.

For example, there are many ways a glass can break into pieces. That is disorder. But there is only one way the broken pieces can be organized to make a glass. That is order. If time moved backward, the broken pieces could come together in a great many ways. Only one of these many ways, however, would re-form the glass. It is almost impossible to believe this would happen.

VOICE TWO:

Not all scientists believe time is governed by the second law of thermodynamics. They do not agree that time must always move forward. The debate will continue about the nature of time. And time will remain a mystery.

(THEME)

HOST:

Our program was written by Marilyn Christiano and read by Sarah Long and Bob Doughty. I'm Steve Ember. Listen again next week for Science in the News, in VOA Special English.

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Circular Thinking: Round Barns on US Farms

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Most barns in America are rectangular, but round ones have a long history. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

A round barn in Illinois

American farmers traditionally keep their animals and equipment in barns that are rectangular. But there are hundreds of barns in the Midwest and other parts of the country that are different. They are not longer than they are wide. Or wider than they are long. These buildings are round.

Round barns have a long history in America. George Washington, the nation's first president, had a round barn in the seventeen hundreds. The Shaker religious community at Hancock, Massachusetts, built one in the eighteen twenties.

But the idea did not become popular until years later. Then, in the early nineteen hundreds, the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign built three round barns that many farmers copied.

A farmer could save on wood or stone with a round design that needed less material than traditional barns. Experts also believed that farmers could save footsteps, and time, in feeding their animals in a round barn. And round barns stood a better chance against strong winds.

Some round barns are not truly circular. They just look that way, but really are many flat pieces put together side by side.

Early versions were mainly designed with two levels. Cows were kept on the first floor and the one above was used to store hay. Later designs brought a large area in the middle for the hay and feeding stations all around for the cows.

By the nineteen thirties, however, fewer American farmers were building round barns. Some people said it took more time and skill. Others disagreed. In any case, it was not a good time to argue -- it was the Great Depression, and times were difficult.

Also, as electric power came to rural America, there was a school of thought that rectangular barns were easier to wire for electricity. Agricultural experts also reconsidered their ideas about a round barn saving time in feeding animals.

Kathy and Bob Frydenlund own the Round Barn Llama Farm in New Richmond, Wisconsin. The Frydenlunds have a library of architectural plans and drawings and have published books on the subject. Money from their book sales helps them take care of their own barn -- a big one nearly a century old, made of concrete and wood. Bob Frydenlund says having a round barn means keeping alive part of the history of American farming.

And that's the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. Transcripts and podcasts are at voaspecialenglish.com, and captioned videos are on YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Saying Goodbye to 2009, Hoping for a Better 2010

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We ask some Americans what they will be doing to celebrate the New Year. Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

The beginning of the New Year celebrated in New York's Times Square just after midnight on January, 1, 1998

And I'm Shirley Griffith. This week on our program, we find out how some people will be welcoming two thousand ten.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

So what do Americans do New Year's Eve? Hillary Huesman is from South Carolina.

HILLARY HUESMAN: "I get dressed up. I look to go out. I'm usually single, and that is usually not a problem. This year I'm still making my plans. I haven't quite confirmed them yet, but probably a hotel ballroom-type scenario, black-tie event."

At a black-tie event, the men dress in tuxedos or dark suits and the women wear fancy dresses.

Hotels in many cities have special deals for New Year's Eve: dinner, Champagne and a party. Then people get a room for the night. That way, no one has to worry about drinking and driving home.

VOICE TWO:

On New Year's Eve, some communities in the United States hold what are called First Night celebrations. These are events where no alcohol is served. The celebrations include things like music performances, art displays and fireworks.

Boston, Massachusetts, held the first First Night celebration in nineteen seventy-six. Since then the idea has spread internationally.

VOICE ONE:

Some people might not have firm plans yet for New Year's Eve, but others know exactly what they will be doing. Joe is a twenty-one year old student at the University of Virginia.

JOE: "I don't really do a whole lot. I normally just spend time with family, go out to eat, hang out, wait for the ball to drop on TV."

Joe is talking about America's best known celebration on New Year's Eve. Hundreds of thousands of people crowd into Times Square in New York. They count down the final seconds to midnight as they watch a brightly lit ball slide down a pole on top of a tall building.

(SOUND)

The first New Year's Eve ball drop in Times Square took place more than a century ago. The ball was made of iron and wood and it was lit with one hundred lights. Today the ball is larger and covered in more than two thousand crystals.

VOICE TWO:

Two other traditions for welcoming the New Year are a midnight kiss and an attempt to sing a song that almost no one knows.

"Auld Lang Syne," by the eighteenth century Scottish poet Robert Burns, is a song about friends and remembering times long ago.

(MUSIC)

A new year is a good time to start fresh -- and, for some people, a time to seek good fortune in the year ahead.

In the American South, for example, people might prepare a dish known as "Hoppin' John." They make it with black-eyed peas and ingredients like bacon, rice and vegetables. Eating it at the New Year is thought to bring good luck.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

On New Year's Day, some families in the United States invite friends and relatives to an open house. Jill Cooper from Santa Fe, New Mexico, gave us a description.

JILL COOPER: "They're family parties, big open house-y kind of parties with lots of cookies -- too many cookies --and punch and eggnog. And houses are decorated, and you see your friends and you bop from party to party."

But that is not all she and her family like to do to celebrate the New Year.

JILL COOPER: "We try to do something outside 'cause we live in Santa Fe and we live right in the mountains. Everybody wants to go for a wonderful hike and start off with fresh air and all the things we're going to have in our lives the whole next year. And then we drop in on parties."

VOICE TWO:

Some families like to take it easy on January first and enjoy a quiet day of rest. Twenty year old Malia is from Virginia.

MALIA: "I usually sleep in because we stay up late on New Year's Eve. And my family, we usually eat the leftovers of the desserts that we make for New Year's, or New Year's Eve and stuff, so. But, just relax, mainly."

But New Year's Day is anything but a day of rest for John Worster (WOO-ster), who lives in Idaho.

JOHN WORSTER: "I offer Catholic Mass, 'cause I'm a Catholic priest by profession, and so it is actually the feast day of Mary, Mother of God. And so we begin our Catholic way of understanding new year by just thanking God for Jesus' mother, Mary. On New Year's Day, after church we'll go out and sit in the goose pit and do some hunting for Canada geese and also ducks."

VOICE ONE:

University of Illinois cheerleaders and float at the 2008 Rose Parade

On New Year's morning, millions of television viewers watch the Tournament of Roses Parade in Pasadena, California. The parade includes marching bands and horseback riders. But the parade is most famous for its motorized floats. They come in all shapes and sizes, but they are all covered with flowers.

In Southern California, the weather on New Year's Day might be cold. But the skies are usually sunny and dry, even as other parts of the country might experience snowstorms.

A local group created the Tournament of Roses festival in Pasadena in eighteen ninety. The festival later expanded to include the parade and a big game in college football.

The champion teams from two college athletic conferences play in the Rose Bowl Stadium. This Friday, the Buckeyes of Ohio State University will play the University of Oregon Ducks.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Will you be making any New Year's resolutions? Hillary Huesman from South Carolina has a few in mind.

HILLARY HUESMAN: "I'd like to solidify my romantic relationship, lose twenty-eight pounds. I'd like to travel a lot more in twenty-ten. Two thousand nine was a long year -- struggled financially, like most of America. So I'm looking for prosperity in twenty-ten."

VOICE ONE:

Malia from Virginia does not make too many resolutions. She says she does not want to disappoint herself when she fails to keep them. Joe, the University of Virginia student, is of a similar mind.

JOE: "I'm not a believer in resolutions for New Year's. I think that resolutions come when they need to throughout the year, when you decide that someone needs a change."

VOICE TWO:

What about John Worster, the Catholic priest?

JOHN WORSTER: "I make a New Year's resolution every year and usually by the third or fourth of January it's already been broken, so...(Laughs).

REPORTER: "What kind of resolutions are those?"

JOHN WORSTER: "Oh, usually to lead a healthier lifestyle by eating better food and not drinking so much, so ... (Laughs)"

VOICE ONE:

Jamar Negron, a high school student from New Jersey, has a few resolutions for two thousand ten:

JAMAR NEGRON: "I'm a fencer, so my New Year's resolution is just to become better at fencing. And better in the general sense: become better in schoolwork, become a better person, become a better writer -- become as best as I can be in all aspects of my life."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Holiday planning can be difficult when business has to come before pleasure.

We did interviews near the Capitol building here in Washington. One of the people we met happened to be the wife of a newly elected senator. Jill Cooper is married to Tom Udall, a Democrat from New Mexico who entered the Senate this past January.

When we talked to her earlier this month, their plans for the New Year were still open.

JILL COOPER: "There was a chance that we would go on a trip to India and Afghanistan, but apparently we're not doing that. Since he's in the Senate and we don't know what's going to happen with the health care bill, he may not even be home. If we're home, we'll probably have dinner with friends."

VOICE ONE:

We give the last word to Jamar, the high school student from New Jersey, and his hopes for two thousand ten.

JAMAR NEGRON: "Prosperity. Strength. Confidence. Equality. Good fortune. Goodwill. That everything will work out for the better. That I'll leave no stone unturned, and that I'm able to go to sleep at night with no regrets at what I've done."

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Our program was written by Nancy Steinbach and Mario Ritter and produced by Caty Weaver. Tell us your resolutions and hopes for two thousand ten, and what you will be doing New Year's Eve. Post your comments at voaspecialenglish.com -- where you can also find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs. I'm Shirley Griffith.

VOICE ONE:

And I'm Steve Ember. We wish you all happiness and good fortune in the New Year, and hope will join us again next time for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

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Disabilities in Old, Young Studied in Developing Nations

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A new study suggests that dementia, not blindness, is the leading cause of disability in the elderly. Another shows the relationship between disability and a lack of nutrition and education in children. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

A new study says the leading cause of disability in older people in low and middle income countries is dementia. The researchers disagree with the World Health Organization which says blindness and other vision problems are the leading cause.

Dementia is a loss of intellectual ability that affects memory, learning, attention, thinking and language skills. People with dementia may forget family members or not know what day it is. Sometimes they become angry or sad, hear voices, or see things that are not there.

Renata Sousa from the Institute of Psychiatry at King's College London and other researchers wrote the new report. Their study looked at the causes of disability among fifteen thousand people age sixty-five or older in seven countries. The countries were China, India, Cuba, the Dominican Republic, Venezuela, Mexico and Peru.

The team found that dementia was the largest cause of disability in the elderly in areas other than rural India and Venezuela. Other major causes were stroke, loss of use of arms or legs, arthritis, depression, eyesight problems and gastrointestinal problems.

In low and middle income countries, heart disease and cancer get much of the attention given to chronic diseases. The researchers say increased importance should be given to chronic diseases of the brain and mind. As populations age, societies will have to deal with more and more cases of dementia.

The study says the elderly are nine percent of the total population of low and middle income countries today. But their numbers are growing quickly. They are expected to reach twenty percent of the total population by the middle of the century.

The study appeared in the Lancet medical journal which published a special issue on disability. A separate study of eighteen low and middle income countries dealt with children.

It found that in almost half the countries, children who were not breastfeed were much more likely to have a disability than those who were. The same was true of those who did not receive vitamin A supplements and those who were underweight.

Children who did not take part in early learning activities or attend school were also more likely to be disabled than those who did.

Researchers at the University of Wisconsin-Madison in the United States and UNICEF did the study.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

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Remembering Six Interesting Americans

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We tell about John Updike, Frank McCourt, Farrah Fawcett, John Hope Franklin, Abe Pollin and Mary Travers Transcript of radio broadcast:

VOICE ONE:

I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Shirley Griffith with PEOPLE IN AMERICA in VOA Special English. Today we remember six interesting people who died in the past year. We begin with two writers.

VOICE ONE:

John Updike

John Updike once said that people read fiction because it makes them feel less lonely about being a human being. This writer is best known for his novels about the private lives of small-town, middle class Americans. He wrote in a way that was extremely detailed, honest and direct. Over his long career, Updike wrote over fifty books including stories, poetry and essays. The nineteen sixty-eight bestseller “Couples” is about the unfaithful relations of several married couples. The sexual openness of the story was revolutionary at that time.

One of Updike’s most famous series is about a man named Harry “Rabbit” Angstrom. The books are “Rabbit, Run”, “Rabbit Redux”, “Rabbit is Rich” and “Rabbit at Rest.” They tell about the successes, failures and desires of one man throughout his life. Other works include “The Witches of Eastwick”, “Brazil”, and “The Centaur.”

Over his career Mister Updike won two Pulitzer Prizes and two National Book Awards. He died in January at the age of seventy-six.

Frank McCourt

FRANK MCCOURT: “When I look back on my childhood I wonder how I survived at all. It was, of course, a miserable childhood. The happy childhood is hardly worth your while. Worse than the ordinary miserable childhood is the miserable Irish childhood. And worse yet is the miserable Irish Catholic childhood.”

VOICE TWO:

That was Frank McCourt reading the opening lines of his book “Angela’s Ashes”, released in nineteen ninety-six. The Pulitzer Prize winning book tells about his difficult childhood growing up in Ireland. His mother struggled to raise her many children after his father left the family. Frank McCourt tells the story in a way that is expressive, warm and light-hearted.

Frank McCourt left Ireland at the age of nineteen to return to New York City where he was born. He earned a degree in English education and taught creative writing for nearly thirty years. After retiring in nineteen eighty-seven, he decided to write about his childhood. “Angela’s Ashes” became a huge success and was later made into a movie. Frank McCourt wrote two more books about his life, “’Tis” and “Teacher Man.” He died in July of cancer. He was seventy-eight.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Farrah Fawcett

For many people, Farrah Fawcett was the face, body and hair of the nineteen seventies. She had a big, bright smile and long, flowing, golden hair. Ms. Fawcett began her career appearing in television commercials for products to make hair and teeth beautiful.

She became internationally famous in nineteen seventy-six for her role on the television series “Charlie’s Angels.” Soon, women around the world were copying her special hairstyle.

Farrah Fawcett spent much of her career working hard to prove that she was more than just a pretty face. She accepted difficult roles in serious television movies. In the nineteen eighties, her performances in “The Burning Bed” and “Small Sacrifices” earned her Emmy Award nominations.

VOICE TWO:

Farrah Fawcett often received more attention for her troubled private life than for her work as an actress. Her son, Redmond O’Neal, was jailed for drug use. In nineteen ninety-five at the age of fifty, she received a great deal of attention for being photographed without clothes in a magazine.

In two thousand six, Farrah Fawcett learned she had cancer. She used her fame to raise awareness about the disease. She used a video camera to document her battle. The recordings were made into a television program called “Farrah’s Story.” She died in June at the age of sixty-two.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

John Hope Franklin

John Hope Franklin was a respected historian and social activist. He wrote about race and the struggles of black Americans. His book, “From Slavery to Freedom: A History of African- Americans,” was first published in nineteen forty-seven. It is widely considered the leading book on the subject.

Mister Franklin grew up in the state of Oklahoma where his father was a lawyer. His family experienced the terrible reality of hatred and discrimination when he was a young boy. His father’s property was destroyed during the race riots in Tulsa in nineteen twenty-one. Events like this one shaped how Mister Franklin would later work to fight racism.

VOICE TWO:

John Hope Franklin studied first at Fisk University then at Harvard University, where he earned master’s and doctorate degrees. His careful research helped the lawyer Thurgood Marshall win a historic case in nineteen fifty-four. The Supreme Court decision in Brown versus the Board of Education made racial separation illegal in schools.

Mister Franklin accepted a teaching position at Brooklyn College in New York.He became the first African-American to lead a history department at a mostly white college. He later taught at top universities including Duke, Harvard and the University of Chicago.

His other publications include “The Emancipation Proclamation” and “Reconstruction after the Civil War.” In his book “The Color Line”, he wrote that the problem of race has been part of America since its creation. And, he said it remains the most tragic social problem in the country’s history.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Abe Pollin

Abe Pollin was a property developer best known for his love of sports. He brought professional basketball and hockey to his hometown of Washington, D.C. He also donated millions of dollars to help others.

Abe Pollin began his career working for his family’s building business. The company made a great deal of money buying land and building houses after World War Two. Mister Pollin later started his own business developing large apartment buildings.

He named the Linda Pollin Memorial Housing Project after one of his two children who died of heart disease. This apartment building was in an African-American neighborhood. Its large rooms and affordable rent gave middle class black people a new kind of housing opportunity in the nineteen sixties.

VOICE TWO:

In nineteen sixty-four Abe Pollin bought a failing basketball team from Baltimore, Maryland and brought it to his hometown. He named it the Washington Bullets, now called the Washington Wizards. He also built a sports center in Landover, Maryland for this team and the hockey team he owned called the Washington Capitals. In the nineteen nineties, Mister Pollin used his own money to build another sports center in downtown Washington. The sports arena, now called Verizon Center, brought new life to this area of the city.

Abe Pollin gave money to many causes including the United Nations Children’s Fund and research for children’s medicine. He died in November at the age of eighty-five. He was days away from starting to build a large new affordable housing project in his beloved city of Washington.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Mary Travers

Mary Travers was a folk singer who performed with the group Peter, Paul and Mary. The other members were Peter Yarrow and Paul Stookey.The group was extremely popular in the nineteen sixties. Some of their hit songs include “500 Miles”, “Puff the Magic Dragon” and “If I Had a Hammer.” Their singing style was very direct and emotional.

The three were very open about their political beliefs. This was unusual for such a mainstream, commercial group. Mary Travers was a strong supporter of the civil rights and anti-war movements of the nineteen sixties. Many other successful music groups during this period avoided making political statements.

VOICE TWO:

Peter, Paul and Mary often performed at demonstrations and political gatherings. In nineteen sixty-five, they took part in marches in Alabama to support voting rights for African-Americans.

Miz Travers did not intend to become a professional singer. Folk singing was something she did for fun. Her fear of appearing in public made performing difficult. But, a music industry expert thought she would be a good fit with the trio he was organizing.

Peter, Paul, and Mary stopped singing together in nineteen seventy. Mary Travers continued performing and making records on her own. Sometimes the trio would reunite, often for performances that brought attention to political issues. Mary Travers died in September at the age of seventy-two.Paul Stookey published a message on her Web site after her death. It said he was honored beyond his wildest dreams to have shared her spirit and her career.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This program was written and produced by Dana Demange. I’m Steve Ember.

VOICE TWO:

And I’m Shirley Griffith. You can learn about other 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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Short Story: 'The Purloined Letter' by Edgar Allan Poe

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A detective solves the mystery of a stolen letter. Transcript of radio broadcast:

Now the Special English program AMERICAN STORIES.

(MUSIC)

Our story today is called "The Purloined Letter." It was written by Edgar Allan Poe. Poe is generally known for his horror stories. This is the third of three stories he wrote about Auguste Dupin and how he solves crimes. The story is about a stolen letter. It first appeared in eighteen forty-four in a yearly magazine. It was reprinted in many publications, newspapers and books. This is one of Poe's stories that influenced the development of the modern detective story. Here is Shep O'Neal with "The Purloined Letter."

(MUSIC)

STORYTELLER:

One evening in Paris, during the autumn of eighteen forty-five, I went to visit a friend, Auguste Dupin. We were smoking our pipes and talking when the door of his apartment opened. Mister Germont, the head of the Paris police force, came into the room.

"I came to ask your advice," Germont said to my friend Dupin. "I am trying to solve a very important case. It is also a very simple case, so I really need your help. But I thought you would like to hear about it, because it is so strange.

"My men and I have worked on this case for three months," Germont said. "It is a very simple case of robbery. But we still cannot solve it."

Dupin took the pipe out of his mouth. "Perhaps the mystery is too simple," he said.

Germont began to laugh. "Too simple?" he said. "Who ever heard of such a thing?"

I looked at Germont. "Why don't you tell us the problem?" I said.

Germont stopped laughing and sat down.

"All right," he said. "But you must never tell anyone I told you this."

"The wife of a very important person needs help. I cannot tell you her name, because her husband is a powerful man in the French government. Let us just call her Madame X. Three months ago, someone stole a letter from Madame X. She is offering a large amount of money to anyone who can return the letter to her.

"We know that her husband's political enemy, Mister D'Arcy, stole the letter. We also know it is somewhere in his apartment. D'Arcy plans to use the letter to embarrass Madame X's husband and destroy his political power.

"As you know, I have keys which can open any lock in Paris. For the last three months, my men and I have spent every evening looking for the letter in his apartment. But we cannot find it."

Dupin stopped smoking. "Tell me how you looked for it," he said. Germont moved forward in his chair.

"We took our time," he said. "First, we examined the furniture in every room. We opened all the drawers. We looked under the rugs. We searched behind all the paintings on the walls.

"We opened every book. We removed the boards of the floor. We even took the tops off the tables to see if he had hidden the letter in the table legs. But we cannot find it. What do you advise me to do?"

Dupin puffed on his pipe. "What does the letter look like?" he asked.

"It is in a white envelope with a red stamp," Germont said. "The address is written in large black letters."

Dupin puffed on his pipe again. "I advise you to go back and search the apartment again," he said.

(MUSIC)

About one month later, Germont came back to see us.

"I followed your advice," he said. "But I still have not found the letter."

Dupin smiled. "I knew you would not find it," he said. Germont became very red in the face. "Then why did you make me search the apartment again?" he shouted.

"My dear Germont," Dupin said. "Let me tell you a little story. Do you remember the famous doctor, Louis Abernathy?"

"No!" Germont shouted. "Get to the point, Dupin!"

"Of course! Of course," Dupin said. "Once, a rich old man met Abernathy at a party. The old man was not feeling very well. He decided he would get a medical opinion from the doctor without paying for it. So he described his problems to Abernathy. 'Now doctor,' the old man said, 'suppose you had a patient like that. What would you tell him to take?'"

"'Oh, that is quite simple,' said Abernathy. 'I would tell him to take my advice.'"

Germont looked embarrassed. "Look here, Dupin. I am perfectly willing to pay for advice."

Dupin smiled at Germont. "How much money did you say the reward was?" he asked. Germont sighed. "I do not want to tell you the exact amount. But I would give fifty thousand francs to the person who helps me find that letter."

"In that case," Dupin said, "take out your checkbook and write me a check for fifty thousand francs. When you have signed the check, I will give you the letter."

Germont looked at Dupin with his mouth open. His eyes seemed to jump out of his head. Then he took out his checkbook and pen, and wrote a check for fifty thousand francs. He gave it to Dupin.

My friend examined the check carefully and put it in his pocket. Then he unlocked a drawer of his desk, took out the letter, and gave it to Germont.

The policeman's hands shook as he opened the letter. He read it quickly. Then he put it in his pocket and ran out of the room without saying a word.

"Dupin!" I said, as I turned to my friend. "How did you solve the mystery?"

"It was simple, my friend," he said. "Germont and his policemen could not find the letter, because they did not try to understand the mind of the man who stole it. Instead, they looked for the letter where they would have hidden it.

"Mister D'Arcy is not a policeman. He is, however, very intelligent. He knew the police would search his apartment. He also knew how police think. So, he did not hide the letter where he knew they would look for it.

"Do you remember how Germont laughed when I said the mystery was difficult for him to solve because it was so simple?"

Dupin filled his pipe with tobacco and lit it. "Well, the more I thought about it, the more I realized the police could not find the letter because D'Arcy had not hidden it at all.

"So I went to visit D'Arcy in his apartment. I took a pair of dark green eyeglasses with me. I explained to him that I was having trouble with my eyes and needed to wear the dark glasses at all times. He believed me. The glasses permitted me to look around the apartment while I seemed only to be talking to him.

"I paid special attention to a large desk where there were a lot of papers and books. However, I saw nothing suspicious there. After a few minutes, however, I noticed a small shelf over the fireplace. A few postcards and a letter were lying on the shelf. The letter looked very old and dirty.

"As soon as I saw this letter, I decided it must be the one I was looking for. It must be, even though it was completely different from the one Germont had described.

"This letter had a large green stamp on it. The address was written in small letters in blue ink. I memorized every detail of the letter while I talked to D'Arcy. Then when he was not looking, I dropped one of my gloves on the floor under my chair.

"The next morning, I stopped at his apartment to look for my glove. While we were talking, we heard people shouting in the street. D'Arcy went to the window and looked out. Quickly, I stepped to the shelf and put the letter in my pocket. Then I replaced it with a letter that looked exactly like it, which I had taken with me. I had made it the night before.

"The trouble in the street was caused by a man who had almost been run over by a horse and carriage. He was not hurt. And soon the crowd of people went away. When it was over, D'Arcy came away from the window. I said good-bye and left.

"The man who almost had an accident was one of my servants. I had paid him to create the incident."

Dupin stopped talking to light his pipe. I did not understand. "But, Dupin," I said, "why did you go to the trouble of replacing the letter? Why not just take it and leave?"

Dupin smiled. "D'Arcy is a dangerous man," he said. "And he has many loyal servants. If I had taken the letter, I might never have left his apartment alive."

(MUSIC)

ANNOUNCER:

"The Purloined Letter" was written by Edgar Allan Poe and adapted into Special English by Dona De Sanctis. The storyteller was Shep O'Neal. The producer was Lawan Davis.

You can read and listen to other AMERICAN STORIES at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com. I'm Barbara Klein.

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A Compromise on Climate Change

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Only five countries reach agreement at talks in Copenhagen, Denmark. Transcript of radio broadcast:

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

Almost two hundred countries met for two weeks at a United Nations conference on climate change in Copenhagen, Denmark. In the end, only five of them reached an agreement: the United States, China, India, Brazil and South Africa.

President Obama praised the agreement last Friday. This week, he said many people are disappointed in the agreement. But he said the compromise was better than nothing.

The voluntary agreement urges major polluters to make deeper cuts in the release of greenhouse gases. Greenhouse gas emissions, such as carbon dioxide, are created in part by burning oil and coal for transportation and electricity.

Protesters gather on the last day of the meeting on climate change in Copenhagen. Many activists were dissatisfied with the agreement.

The agreement sets targets to prevent the Earth's average temperature from rising more than two degrees Celsius above pre-industrial levels. And the plan calls for one hundred billion dollars a year in aid to poor nations to deal with climate change. This would start in two thousand twenty.

But the agreement, known as the Copenhagen Accord, is not legally binding. It fails to set detailed targets for cuts in carbon emissions. And it failed to earn the support of all the nations at the talks.

India's environment minister praised the united position taken by India, China, Brazil and South Africa. He said it permitted them to avoid the legally binding targets and international supervision proposed by developed countries.

India, for example, has promised to cut emissions by at least twenty percent from two thousand five levels by two thousand twenty. But big developing countries do not want to limit their economic growth. They say rich nations created the problem, so they should take most of the responsibility for reducing greenhouse gases.

China rejected accusations by critics that it was responsible for the results at Copenhagen. A Foreign Ministry spokeswoman said developed countries did not perform well at the talks. She said China has taken its own measures to fight climate change and supports pressing ahead with international cooperation.

China and other large developing countries have accused rich nations of failing to offer big enough cuts in their own emissions. They also say wealthy nations did not offer enough money and technology to help poor countries deal with climate change.

In Europe, politicians and environmentalists expressed deep disappointment that world leaders failed to reach a stronger agreement.

But United Nations Secretary General Ban Ki-moon says the Copenhagen Accord is only a beginning. He says he will work with world leaders to reach a legally binding treaty in the coming months.

By next month all countries are supposed to have plans for cutting emissions. And climate talks will continue in the coming year with meetings in Germany and Mexico.

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember.

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Making Merry With This Year's Holiday Music

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Music from new Christmas albums by Bob Dylan, Sugarland, Sting and others. Transcript of radio broadcast:

HOST:

Welcome to AMERICAN MOSAIC in VOA Special English.

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty.

As always, music makers released lots of new holiday albums this year. There are country, jazz, gospel and other kinds of holiday songs. Since it is Christmas today we thought we would take time to listen to some of the new offerings.

The biggest surprise came from this artist. Maybe you will recognize the voice.

(MUSIC)

Bob Dylan's album, "Christmas in the Heart," has many traditional Christmas songs. The video for the song "Must Be Santa" has been very popular on the Internet. Dylan is wearing false long hair and dancing around with a crowd of mostly younger people at a wild house party. It is all very strange. But it does seem merry. "Christmas in the Heart" is truly a gift, too. All of Dylan's profits from the album are going to aid organizations.

Also for charity is another release in the "Very Special Christmas" series. Two thousand nine marks the seventh recording in the series. It began in nineteen-eighty-seven to help the Special Olympics. Artists who took part this season include Colbie Caillat, Miley Cyrus and this country superstar, Carrie Underwood. She sings "Hark! The Herald Angels Sing."

(MUSIC)

The country band Sugarland released its first Christmas album this year called "Gold and Green." The band's two members, Kristian Bush and Jennifer Nettles, perform some traditional songs. They also co-wrote many new holiday songs too, like the title track.

(MUSIC)

Straight No Chaser is a famous men's singing group that began at Indiana University. Former members formed a professional group of the same name. Straight No Chaser is an acapella group which means the singers do not perform with any instrumental music. Their voices do all the work.

Straight No Chaser released "Christmas Cheers" in November. Here the men perform a funny piece called "The Christmas Can-Can."

(MUSIC)

Last month, the British musician Sting released "If on a Winter's Night ... " The album is filled with beautiful, old music from the British Isles. The recording is more about the winter season than a holiday. However, in "Christmas at Sea" Sting takes a haunting Robert Louis Stevenson poem and sets it to music.

(MUSIC)

"My Christmas" is Andrea Bocelli's new holiday album. The Italian singer invited many guest artists to perform on the recording. They include the Mormon Tabernacle Choir, the Muppets, and Mary J. Blige.

Here Andrea Bocelli and Natalie Cole sing "The Christmas Song," from "My Christmas."

(MUSIC)

Ayiesha Woods is a Christian musician originally from Long Island, New York. The singer-songwriter has won several gospel music awards and has released four albums. They include this year's holiday recording, "Christmas Like This." It was released last month. Here Ayiesha Woods performs "O Holy Night."

(MUSIC)

Neil Diamond is another American singer-songwriter. He has been a superstar in the music business for almost forty years. "A Cherry, Cherry, Christmas" is Diamond's third Christmas album. Diamond says his latest record let people experience the special feelings of Christmas year after year. One of those feelings might be the fun of a sleigh ride through the snow.

(MUSIC: "SLEIGH RIDE")

There is also a nice seasonal album out for jazz lovers. "Jazzy Brass for the Holidays" is the latest recording by jazz trumpet player Eddie Allen. Allen arranged all fourteen pieces on the recording. He also leads the four-member brass band, drummer and bass player.

We leave you with Eddie Allen and the band playing "Let it Snow! Let It Snow! Let It Snow!" from "Jazzy Brass for the Holidays."

(MUSIC)

I'm Bob Doughty. This program was written and produced by Caty Weaver.

Do you have a question about people, places or things in America? Send it to mosaic@voanews.comand we may answer it on this show.

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

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