Radio Wuda 第二学期第四次听力和歌曲文字材料

New Program Will Soon Make It Easier to Travel to U.S.

We play songs nominated for an Academy Award …

Answer a question about American English …

And report about new rules for traveling to the United States.

Travel to the United States

Visiting the United States will soon become easier for international travelers under a new government plan. Barbara Klein tells us more about this new program.

BARBARA KLEIN: Travel to the United States decreased after the terrorist attacks of two thousand one. In reaction to the attacks, the United States government increased security requirements for travelers.

These requirements have caused long lines in airports and extended searches of passengers and their belongings. Businesses and universities have become increasingly concerned that the problems involved with travel have reduced the number of foreign visitors.

But recently, the Bush administration announced a plan it says will improve security at the nation’s borders, while welcoming foreign visitors. The plan uses improved technology to speed up security processes.

Officials say the new system will reduce problems that often delay the approval of international travel documents, or visas. People coming to the United States to study at American colleges will receive visas that permit them to remain in the country for longer periods of time.

Under the new program, travelers will no longer be required to appear at American diplomatic offices in their country to be questioned for visas. Instead, they can be questioned at local offices throughout their country on live video broadcasts.

The government plan also includes changes at American airports to make foreign visitors feel more welcome when they arrive in the United States. This program will first be tested at airports in Houston, Texas and Washington, D.C. Foreign travelers arriving in the United States through these airports will receive helpful information and personal assistance.

New passports, called e-passports, will also be created. These documents will contain biological information on computer chips. The biological information makes it difficult to copy the passports for illegal use. Other governments in addition to the United States are also beginning to develop these documents.

American and British English

HOST: Our VOA listener question this week comes from Iraq. Harbey Muhammad Ali asks about differences between American and British English.

Language experts say that spoken English was almost the same in the American colonies and Britain. Americans began to change the sound of their speech after the Revolutionary War in seventeen seventy-six. They wanted to separate themselves from the British in language as they had separated themselves from the British government.

Some American leaders proposed major changes in the language. Benjamin Franklin wanted a new system of spelling. His reforms were rejected. But his ideas influenced others. One was Noah Webster.

Webster wrote language books for schools. He thought Americans should learn from American books. He published his first spelling book in seventeen eighty-three. Webster published The American Dictionary of the English Language in eighteen twenty-eight. It established rules for speaking and spelling the words used in American English.

Webster believed that British English spelling rules were too complex. So he worked to establish an American version of the English language. For example, he spelled the word “center” “c-e-n-t-e-r” instead of the British spelling, “c-e-n-t-r-e”. He spelled the word “honor” “h-o-n-o-r” instead of “h-o-n-o-u-r” as it is spelled in Britain.

Noah Webster said every part of a word should be spoken. That is why Americans say “sec-re-ta-ry” instead of “sec-re-t’ry” as the British do. Webster’s rule for saying every part of a word made American English easier for immigrants to learn. For example, they learned to say “waist-coat” the way it is spelled instead of the British “wes-kit”.

The different languages of the immigrants who came to the United States also helped make American English different from British English. Many foreign words and expressions became part of English as Americans speak it.

Sometimes Americans and British people do not understand each other because of different word meanings. For example, a “jumper” in Britain is a sweater. In the United States, it is a kind of a dress. The British word “brolly” is an “umbrella” in America. A “wastebasket” in America is a “dustbin” in Britain. French fried potatoes in the United States are called “chips” in Britain.

All these differences led British writer George Bernard Shaw to joke that Britain and America are two countries separated by the same language.

Oscar Nominated Songs

The Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences will present its Academy Awards in Hollywood, California, Sunday night. Bob Doughty tells us about the nominees for the best song written for a movie.

BOB DOUGHTY: Three songs were nominated for the best original song. This one is from the movie “Crash." Michael Becker and Kathleen “Bird” York wrote “In The Deep.” York sings it.

The second Oscar-nominated song is from the movie “Hustle and Flow.” Jordan Houston, Cedric Coleman and Paul Beauregard wrote the song, “It’s Hard Out Here for a Pimp.”

Country singer Dolly Parton wrote and performs the final original song nominated for an Academy Award. It is from the movie “Transamerica.” We leave you now with that song, “Travelin’ Thru.”

Art of Darkness: Growing Vegetables in Shade

Farmers often feel they need a lot of sunshine to produce a good crop. But lots of vegetables grow well without much sun.

The Rodale Institute in Pennsylvania published a report about this subject some years ago in its magazine Organic Gardening. The report said many different kinds of foods from blueberries to beans can be grown in the shade.

Some vegetables do need a lot of sun. A vegetable crop expert at the University of Maine advised putting these vegetables where they can get from eight to ten hours of sunlight a day. Tomatoes, melons, squash and peppers are among those that need the most sun.

Plants that produce root crops, such as carrots and beets, need from six to eight hours of sunlight every day. But leafy vegetables, such as lettuce and spinach, need only six hours of sunlight a day.

The Rodale Institute says a garden should be planned carefully especially if you grow different kinds of foods. For example, rows of vegetables should be planted in an east-west direction. That way, as the sun passes overhead, all the plants will receive an equal amount of light. This is especially important when the plants grow to different heights.

Nut trees such as filbert, hazelnut and yellowhorn produce well with only sun in the morning.

Some fruits also do well without a lot of sunlight. In the United States, blueberries, raspberries, and several kinds of pears need only a little sun each day. In Asia, the hardy kiwi grows well in the shade.

Many herbs grow well without much sun. Mint plants, for example, grow well in the shade. So do sage, dill, oregano, borage, chamomile and several kinds of thyme.

The owner of a garden seed company warned against removing shade trees. He cut down all his shade trees to provide more sun for his crops. But then he had to protect his summer lettuce from the heat of the sun by hanging a piece of cloth to provide shade.

Instead of cutting trees, he suggested putting plants that need a lot of sunlight, such as tomatoes, in containers. That way they can be moved as the sun moves.

Internet users can learn more about the Rodale Institute at rodaleinstitute.org.

Songs:

Rhythm Of The Rain

Sung by the Cascades

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain,

Telling me just what a fool I've been.

I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain,

And let me be alone again.

The only girl I've ever loved has gone away.

Looking for a brand new start

But little does she know that when she left that day.

Along with her she took my heart.

Rain, please tell me, now does that seem fair

For her to steal my heart away when she don't care

I can't love another, when my heart's somewhere far away.

The only girl I've ever loved has gone away.

Looking for a brand new start

But little does she know that when she left that day.

Along with her she took my heart.

Rain, won't you tell her that I love her so

Please ask the sun to set her heart aglow

Rain in her heart and let the love we knew start to grow.

Listen to the rhythm of the falling rain,

Telling me just what a fool I've been.

I wish that it would go and let me cry in vain,

And let me be alone again.

Ooh listen to the falling rain...

Love Story

Sung By Andy Williams

Where do I begin

to tell a story of how great a love can be

the sweet love story that is older than the sea

the simple truth about the love she brings to me

Where do I start

With her first hello

she gave a meaning to this empty world of mine

There'd never be another love

another time

She came into my life and made the living fine

she fills my heart,

she fills my heart with very special things

with angel songs,

with wild imaginings

She fills my soul with so much love

that anywhere I go

I'm never lonely.

With her along who could be lonely

I reach for her hand

it's always there

How long does it last

Can love be measured by the hours in a day

I have no answers now but this much I can say:

I know I'll need her till the stars all burn away

and she'll be there

Hero

Sung by ENRIQUE IGLESIAS

Let me be your hero

Would you dance,

if I asked you to dance?

Would you run,

and never look back?

Would you cry,

if you saw me crying?

And would you save my soul, tonight?

Would you tremble,

if I touched your lips?

Would you laugh?

Oh please tell me this.

Now would you die,

for the one you love?

Hold me in your arms, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.

I can kiss away the pain.

I will stand by you forever.

You can take my breath away.

Would you swear,

that you'll always be mine?

Or would you lie?

would you run and hide?

Am I in too deep?

Have I lost my mind?

I don't care...

You're here, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.

I can kiss away the pain.

I will stand by you forever.

You can take my breath away.

Oh, I just wanna to hold you.

I just wanna to hold you.

Oh yeah.

Am I in too deep?

Have I lost my mind?

Well I don't care...

You're here, tonight.

I can be your hero, baby.

I can kiss away the pain.

I will stand by you forever.

You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.

I can kiss away the pain.

And I will stand by you, forever.

You can take my breath away.

You can take my breath away.

I can be your hero.