Words and Their Stories: Hold Your Horses!

Source: http://www.voanews.com/learningenglish/home/words-stories/Words-and-Their-Stories-Hold-Your-Horses-118296964.html

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

Today, we tell about "horse" expressions.  In the past, many people depended on horses for transportation, farming and other kinds of work.  A lot of people still like to ride horses.  And, horse racing is also popular.  So it is not surprising that Americans still use expressions about the animals.

Long ago, people who were rich or important rode horses that were very tall.  Today, if a girl acts like she is better than everyone else, you might say she should get off her high horse.

Yesterday my children wanted me to take them to the playground.  But I had to finish my work, so I told them to hold your horses. Wait until I finish what I am doing.  My two boys like to compete against each other and play in a violent way.  I always tell them to stop horsing around or someone could get hurt.

We live in a small town.  It does not have any exciting activities to offer visitors.  My children call it a one-horse town.

Last night, I got a telephone call while I was watching my favorite television show.  I decided not to answer it because wild horses could not drag me away from the television.  There was nothing that could stop me from doing what I wanted to do. 

Sometimes you get information straight from the horse's mouth. It comes directly from the person who knows most about the subject and is the best source.  Let us say your teacher tells you there is going to be a test tomorrow.  You could say you got the information straight from the horse's mouth.  However, you would not want to call your teacher a horse!

You may have heard this expression: You can lead a horse to water, but you cannot make him drink.  That means you can give someone advice but you cannot force him to do something he does not want to do.

Sometimes a person fights a battle that has been decided or keeps arguing a question that has been settled.  We say this is like beating a dead horse.

In politics, a dark-horse candidate is someone who is not well known to the public.  Sometimes, a dark horse unexpectedly wins an election.

Another piece of advice is, do not change horses in midstream. You would not want to get off one horse and on to another in the middle of a river.  Or make major changes in an activity that has already begun.  In the past, this expression was used as an argument to re-elect a president, especially during a time when the country was at war.

(MUSIC)

This VOA Special English program was written by Shelley Gollust.  I'm Faith Lapidus.  You can find more WORDS AND THEIR STORIES at our website, voaspecialenglish.com.

Lyrics, Billy Joe

The River of Dreams by Billy Joel Author of This Exercise:ESL Teacher Judith Jékél Source: English Exercises www.englishexercises.org Watch the video and do the following exercises. Write in the missing prepositions.  the middle   the night I go walking   my sleep  the mountains   faith  the river so deep I must be looking   something Something sacred I lost But the river is wide And it’s too hard to cross Choose the words that you can hear And even doughthroughthoughthought I know the river is widewhitewildwind  I waketaketalkwalk  down every evening and stand on the showshorestoresore  I try to cross to the opposite sideslidesightsite  So I cancan'tcanecannal  finally find what I’ve binbeanbeenbee  looking for Write in the missing words. The images may help . In the middle of the   I go   in my sleep Through the   of fear To a   so deep I’m a   for something Taken out of my soul Something I’d never   Something somebody   Match the beginning and the end of the following lines. I don’t know why                A  the rest of my life But now I’m tired and             B  I go walking at night     Hope it doesn’t take                      C   I don’t wanna walk anymore Until I find what it is              D   I’ve been looking for Unscramble the words in brackets. In the   (lieddm) of the night I go walking in my  (elesp) Through the   (lejung) of doubt To the river so   (edpe) I know I’m   (hcaengsir) for something Something so undefined That it can only be seen By the eyes of the  (inldb) In the middle of the night Write in the missing words. The images may help. I’m not sure about a life after this  knows I’ve never been a spiritual man Baptized by the , I wade into the river That is   to the promised land In the middle of the night I go walking in my sleep Through the   of truth To the river so deep We all end in the   We all   in the streams We’re all carried along By the river of    In the middle of the night

World affairs

Brazilian teachers, schools, Students should got the signature of Maganews, it's excellent, I recommend it.

Source: MAGANEWS

World affairs

Barack Obama in Brazil

The objectives of president Barack Obama’s trip toBrazil are economic, political and social

   

   Brasília – According to the White House spokesman, Jay Carney, the objectives of president Barack Obama’s trip to Brazilare economic, political and social. The president will deal with a wide variety of issues in these areas with officials, business leaders and citizens, explained Carney.  Brazil is one of the few countries the United States is currently running a trade surplus with (last year it was almost $8 billion; five years ago, in 2006, Brazil had a $10 billion trade surplus with the US). So, on one hand, the Americans are really excited about partnership and cooperation opportunities in the booming Brazilian economy (now the seventh biggest in the world). On the other hand, the Brazilians are eager to reduce imports from the US and get back to a surplus. A Trade and Economic Cooperation Agreement (TECA) will be signed and it will make it easier for both sides to move ahead with their trade objectives.  Trade expansion is seen (by both sides) as the path to more jobs and growth.

         The political side of the trip is recognition of the rise of Latin America in world affairs and, especially, the leadership role of Brazil. Two days from the arrival of Obama officials from both countries are hammering out the details of between 10 and 20 agreements and memorandums that will be signed on Saturday in Brasilia. Some of them still face hard technical and legal obstacles.  The American president’s entourage will consist of around a thousand people. The president will be accompanied by his wife, Michelle, and two daughters.

        There is an undeniable symbolic aspect to the visit. America’s first Afro-American president meets Brazil’s first female president. There will definitely be a strong commitment by both governments to combating racial and gender discrimination, along with recognition of Brazil’s efforts to raise its poor out of poverty and make them participating citizens who are able to receive the benefits of citizenship (“inclusão social”).

     In Brasilia, Obama will deal with business and politics. He will meet business leaders from both countries at two different moments: a business forum (“Fórum Empresarial Brasil-Estados Unidos”) with 400 and a more intimate meeting with selected CEOs. Topics the president will discuss include renewable energy, such as ethanol (although the US will not reduce import barriers on Brazilian sugarcane-based ethanol, preferring to continue with corn-based ethanol) and investments in infrastructure in Brazil uniting the public and private sector. Among the opportunities: partnerships in the World Soccer Cup and Olympics Games that Brazil will host in 2014 and 2016, respectively.

     As he did in Berlin in 2008 and in Cairo in 2009, Obama will make a public speech in Rio de Janeiro on Sunday, March 20. Without a doubt he will stress the common interests and shared values of Brazil and the United States, emphasizing the countries’ similarities: historical backgrounds, large size, diverse populations and democratic traditions. The speech will be shown on large screens with translation.

By – Renata Girardi / ABr and Allen Bennett – translator/editor The News in English

Pictures (Obama and family) – Marcello Casal Jr / ABr

The Statue of Liberty

Source: http://www.manythings.org/voa/places/11.html originally posted through VOA SPECIAL ENGLISH www.voanews.com

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Steve Ember, and I'm Barbara Klein.

Later this week, Americans will celebrate the nation's Independence Day. On July 4, 1776, colonial leaders approved the final Declaration of Independence for the United States.

This year, the city of New York will also celebrate the opening of part of an important symbol of America that has been closed to the public for the past eight years.The Statue of Liberty has stood in New York Harbor for more than 100 years. It was a gift from the people of France in 1884. Its full name is "Liberty Enlightening the World".

The Statue of Liberty is 46 meters tall from its base. It is made mostly of copper. Throughout history, images of liberty have been represented as a woman. The statue is sometimes called "Lady Liberty."

The Statue of Liberty's face was created to look like the sculptor's mother. Her right arm holds a torch with a flame high in the air. Her left arm holds a tablet with the date of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1776. On her head she wears a crown of seven points. Each is meant to represent the light of freedom as it shines on the seven seas and seven continents of the world.  Twenty-five windows in the crown represent gemstones found on Earth. A chain that represents oppression lies broken at her feet.

In 1903, a bronze plaque was placed on the inner wall of the statue's support structure or pedestal. On it are words from the poem "The New Colossus" written by Emma Lazarus in 1883. The plaque represents the statue's message of hope for people seeking freedom. These are some of its best known words:

READER:

Give me your tired, your poor,

Your huddled masses yearning to breathe free,

The wretched refuse of your teeming shore.

Send these, the homeless, tempest-tost to me,

I lift my lamp beside the golden door!The United States and France have been friends and allies since the time of the American Revolution. France helped the American colonial armies defeat the British. The war officially ended in 1783. A few years later, the French rebelled against their king.

A French historian and political leader, Edouard-Rene Lefebvre de Laboulaye, had the idea for the statue. In 1865, he suggested that the French and the Americans build a monument together to celebrate freedom. Artist Frederic-Auguste Bartholdi immediately agreed to design it.

In 1875, the French established an organization to raise money for Bartholdi's creation. Two years later, an American group was formed to raise money to pay for a pedestal to support the statue. American architect Richard Morris Hunt was chosen to design this support structure. It would stand 47 meters high.

In France, Bartholdi designed a very small statue. Then he built a series of larger copies. Workers created a wooden form covered with plaster for each part. Then they placed 300 pieces of copper on the forms. This copper skin was less than three centimeters thick.

The statue also needed a structure that could hold its weight of more than 200 tons. French engineer Alexandre Gustave Eiffel created this new technology. Later, he would build the famous Eiffel Tower in Paris.

Eiffel and others worked in Paris to produce a strong iron support system for the statue. The design also needed to permit the statue to move a little in strong winds.

France had wanted to give the statue to the United States on the one hundredth anniversary of the Declaration of Independence -- July 4, 1876. But technical problems and lack of money delayed the project. France finally presented the statue to the United States in Paris in 1884. But the pedestal, being built in New York, was not finished. Not enough money had been given to complete the project.

The publisher of the New York World newspaper came to the rescue. Joseph Pulitzer used his newspaper to urge Americans to give more money to finish the pedestal. His efforts brought in another 100,000 dollars. And the pedestal was finished.

In France, workers separated the statue into 350 pieces, put them on a ship and sent them across the ocean. The statue arrived in New York in more than 200 wooden boxes. It took workers four months to put together the statue on the new pedestal. President Grover Cleveland officially accepted the statue in a ceremony on October 28, 1886. He said: "We will not forget that Liberty has here made her home; nor shall her chosen altar be neglected."The Statue of Liberty became a symbol of hope for immigrants coming to the United States by ship from Europe. More than 12 million people passed the statue between 1892 and 1954 on their way to the immigration center on nearby Ellis Island.

More than 40% of Americans have an ancestor who passed through Ellis Island. Through the years, millions of people continued to visit the Statue of Liberty. A trip to New York City did not seem complete without it.

Still, the statue was old and becoming dangerous for visitors. In 1982, President Ronald Reagan asked businessman Lee Iacocca to lead a campaign to repair it. The Statue of Liberty-Ellis Island Foundation raised about 100 million dollars in private money to do the work. The repairs included replacing the torch and covering it with 24 carat gold. On July 4, 1986, New York City celebrated a restored and re-opened Statue of Liberty.

Officials closed the Statue of Liberty following the terrorist attacks in New York on September 11, 2001. It remained closed until August, 2004. When it re-opened, visitors could only go onto the statue's pedestal. But the Statue continued to attract visitors—more than three million a year.

This year, on July 4th, visitors once again will be able to climb inside the statue all the way to the top. It is not an easy thing to do. More than 350 steps lead to Lady Liberty's crown. The National Park Service says it will limit the number of climbers to about 200 a day. No more than ten people will be able to go up at one time. At that rate, officials estimate that more than 100,000 people will be able to climb to the top each year.

But if you want to visit the newly opened Statue of Liberty, you must do it within the next two years. That is because the National Park Service plans to close it again for more repairs. Officials say the improvements could take as long as two years. But they say the work will make it possible to safely double the number of visitors permitted inside.The Statue of Liberty National Monument and Ellis Island is one of America's national parks. It includes both Liberty Island, where the statue stands, and nearby Ellis Island, the former federal immigration processing center.

Officials at the center examined many of the immigrants who arrived by ship before they were permitted to enter the United States. The main building was restored and opened as a museum in 1990. The museum includes pictures, videos, interactive displays and recordings of immigrants who went through Ellis Island until it was closed in 1954.

One popular exhibit is the Immigrant Wall of Honor outside the main building. It honors all immigrants to the United States no matter where they entered the country. It now lists the names of more than 700,000 people. A new area of wall is being prepared for more names to be added.

An immigration history center on the island contains the ship records of passengers who entered through New York from 1892 through 1924. Those were the years of the great wave of European immigration, before the United States passed restrictive immigration laws.

One recent visitor said the Ellis Island immigration hall feels alive with the stories of people who left their native lands long ago to start a new life in a new country.This program was written by Nancy Steinbach and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Barbara Klein. And I'm Steve Ember. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at voaspecialenglish.com. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English.

Irish coffee

IRISH COFFEE

THAT RICH AND CREAMYTASTE...

Source: Speak Up

Language level: Upper intermediate

Speaker: Justin Ratcliffe

THE ART OF PERFECTION

Ireland is famous for whiskey, but have you ever tried Irish Coffee? It’s a wonderful mixture of coffee, whiskey and cream. It was originally invented in 1942 by a barman in Country Limerick in order to bring comfort to some stranded American tourists. And nearly 70 years later, it is still going strong.

One person who knows how to make a good Irish Coffee is 20-year-old Ruthie Coleman. She works in the Jasmine Bar at the Brooks Hotel in Dublin. The bar stocks more than 100 different types of whiskey and is rightly on the Ireland Whiskey Trail. We asked her to explain how to make the perfect Irish Coffee:

Ruthie Coleman

(Irish accent)

Either you use a Paris goblet or a latte glass. And or heat the glass first. And then you empty it out and get fresh boiling water. And then, according to the customer, you add sugar. Normally, it’s two sugars, but, if the customer doesn’t like a sweet coffee, you have to explain to them that the sugar actually makes the cream level on it, so…the Irish coffee needs a bit of sugar in it. An then once the sugar dissolves, then you add a shot of coffee, and then you add your shot of whiskey –Jameson whiskey is the one that  we use – and you stir well until it’s dissolved. And then you use double cream and you shake it well, and then you use the back of a teaspoon and you pour it gently to make it settle on the top.

But, as she explains, sometimes things can go wrong!

Ruthie Coleman

Sometimes, if you don’t stir the Irish coffee well, the mixture of the sugar and the whiskey and the coffee isn’t mixed well, so you might get different tastes at different stages when you’re drinking it. Second, well, if the cream’s not shipped well, it mightn’t, first of all, get out onto the spoon, or the opposite way, if it’s not stirred enough, it might just float and go down to the bottom of the coffee, so that’s not good either. Cause the perfect taste of an Irish Coffee is through the cream, so the cram should always be at the top, so you taste the Irish whiskey through the cream.

Sources: www.manythings.org and www.voanews.com

This is Faith Lapidus. And this is Steve Ember with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

Today we present the first of three programs about some of the most interesting, beautiful and unusual places on Earth.  We begin with a list of what have been called the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.People have always felt the need to create lists.  Lists are records of important ideas, places, events or people.  About 2,500 years ago a Greek historian named Herodotus is said to have made a list of what he thought were the greatest structures in the world.  His list of places became known as the Seven Wonders of the Ancient World.

Herodotus only wrote about places he knew.  He did not know much about Asia. North and South America were completely unknown.  Six of these ancient places no longer exist.  We can only guess what they really looked like.  But here is the list of those seven ancient Wonders of the World.

We begin with one that existed in what is now Iraq.  It was called the Hanging Gardens of Babylon.  King Nebuchadnezzar the Second probably built the gardens about 2,600 years ago.  Ancient historians say they were a huge system of gardens with trees and flowers.

Also on this list is the Colossus of Rhodes.  It was a huge bronze metal statue of the Greek sun god Helios. The Colossus was about 37 meters tall.  It was built near the harbor on the Greek island of Rhodes about 2,300 years ago.  This ancient statue was destroyed in an earthquake

Next on our list is the statue of the Greek God Zeus in a temple at Olympia, Greece.  It was the most famous statue in the ancient world.  Records say it was about 12 meters tall and made of ivory and gold.  An earthquake probably destroyed the temple. The statue was removed and later destroyed in a fire.

The Pharos of Alexandria was an ancient lighthouse.  A fire burning on the top of the lighthouse made it easier for ships to find the great harbor of Alexandria, Egypt.  Records say the lighthouse was about 130 meters tall.  It stood for 1,500 years before it was destroyed by an earthquake.

The Temple of Artemis at Ephesus is another ancient wonder of the world.  It was built to honor a Greek goddess.  It was one of the largest and most complex temples built in ancient times.  The temple was built in what is now Turkey about 2,500 years ago

Number six on our list was also built in what is now Turkey.  It was the Mausoleum of Halicarnassus.  The huge marble burial place was built for King Mausolus of Caria. It was so famous that all large burial places, or tombs, became known as mausoleums. An earthquake destroyed the structure

The last of the seven ancient wonders are the oldest.  Yet they are the only ones that still exist today. They are the three Pyramids of Egypt, near the Nile River at Giza.  The pyramids were built about 4,500 years ago as burial places for ancient kings.  The largest is called the Great Pyramid. It is almost 140 meters high.  It covers an area of more than four hectares.  The Greek historian Herodotus said more than 100,000 men worked for more than 30 years to build the Great Pyramid.  The great pyramids of Egypt will probably continue to exist for many years to come.Now we will tell about several other ancient wonders that still exist today. We cannot tell about all of the great structures built in ancient times. There are too many.  However, if Herodotus had known about the Great Wall of China we feel sure he would have included it on his list of wonders of the world.

The Great Wall was begun more than 2,000 years ago.  It was built to keep out invaders.  It extends about 6,700 kilometers across northern China. Today, the Chinese government is working to repair parts of the wall and protect as much of it as possible.  The Great Wall of China is one of the largest building projects ever attempted.  It is also the only object built by people that can be seen from space.

One of the oldest structures ever built by people also belongs on a list of ancient wonders.  It is a circle of huge stones on the Salisbury Plain in southwestern England.  It is called Stonehenge. Experts believe work began on Stonehenge about 5,000 years ago.  It was added to and changed several times until it became the structure we see today. We know very little about Stonehenge.  We do not even know how these huge stones were moved to the area.

Some experts believe the stones were cut from solid rock about 380 kilometers away in Wales.  One of the huge stones weighs as much as 45 tons.  Experts say Stonehenge may have been built as some kind of ceremonial or religious structure.  Much has been written about Stonehenge, but experts say they still are not sure what it was used for.Another famous ancient structure is the Coliseum in Rome, Italy.  It was built almost 2,000 years ago. The ancient Roman sports center could hold 50,000 people who gathered there to watch public events.  Experts say it is one of the finest examples of Roman design and engineering.

The city of Machu Picchu in Peru should be on most lists, too. Experts say it includes some of the best stone work ever built.  The ancient Inca people built Machu Picchu high in the Andes Mountains, northwest of the city of Cuzco.  Machu Picchu is about 13 square kilometers.

Historians say it might have been one of the last places of safety for the Incas who were fleeing invaders from Spain

India is famous for its temples and buildings.  The most famous is the Taj Mahal, considered one of the most beautiful buildings every constructed.  The fifth Mughal emperor, Shah Jahan, ordered it built in Agra in 1631. He built it as a burial place in memory of his wife

The Taj Mahal has tiny colorful stones inlaid in white marble. The structure seems to change color during different times of the day and night.  Experts say it is one of the most perfect buildings ever constructed. They say nothing could be added or taken away to improve the beautiful Taj Mahal.We will end our program today in Egypt.  Any list of ancient places must include the two temples at Abu Simbel.  They were built to honor an ancient king of Egypt, Ramses the Second, and his wife, Nefertari

Abu Simbel was built more than 3,000 years ago.  It is about 280 kilometers south of Aswan on the western bank of the Nile River.

It took an army of workmen and artists more than 30 years to cut the huge temple into the face of a rock mountain.  In front of the main temple are four huge statues of Ramses the Second.  Each statue is about 20 meters high.  Nearby is another temple that honors his wife, Nefertari.  It too is beautifully carved out of solid rock.

The Nile River has always made life possible in the desert areas of Egypt.  However the Nile also made life difficult when it flooded.  The modern Egyptian government decided a dam could control the Nile to prevent both floods and lack of water.  Work began on the Aswan Dam in 1960.

However, when plans were made for the dam experts quickly discovered that the great temples at Abu Simbel would be forever lost.  They would be under water in the new lake formed by the dam.  Egypt appealed to the United Nations agency UNESCO for help. UNESCO appealed to the world

The governments of the world provided technical help and financial aid to save the great temples.  In 1964 work began to cut the temples away from the rock mountain.  Each large piece was moved 60 meters up the mountain to a safe area.  Then the huge temples were carefully rebuilt.  The work was finished in 1968.

Today Abu Simbel is safe.  It looks much the same as it has for the past 3,000 years.  It will continue to honor the ancient king and his queen for many years to come.  And it will honor the modern world's efforts to save a truly great work of art.Next week we tell about some of the natural wonders of our world.  This program was written by Paul Thompson.  It was produced by Mario Ritter.  This is Faith Lapidus. And this is Steve Ember.  Join us again next week for anotherEXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English.

Family Album ,51

Source: Family Album USA