Lesson

01

News English

Scientists Seek Super Soybean to Help Global

Todays News
LOS ANGELES According to the United Nations, the worlds population will increase
by 34 percent by the middle of the century. Global food production needs to meet this
increase. A recent study of soybeans, one of the major food crops and sources of
protein, may be one step in helping solve the global food crisis through the power of
computers.
The U.N. predicts food production must increase by 70 percent to meet the needs of a
wealthier and more urban world population. The World Food Prize Foundation
president and former U.S. ambassador to Cambodia, Kenneth Quinn, calls it the greatest
challenge in history.
Theres going to be another 2 billion people on our planet between now and 2050 and
how are we going to produce enough food for them to eat? asked Quinn.
One solution is science. The study led by Darren Drewry of NASAs Jet Propulsion
Laboratory is looking for a super soybean. A computer model can create a plant that
can be more productive and reflects more light back into space to reduce global
warming's effects, while using less water.
One plant with all these traits may be hard to find, but, with data from real soybean
plants, a computer can redesign a plant with the traits through the arrangement of the
leaves, their density and angle to the sun.
If the plants in the field behave as predicted, scientists will look for soybean lines with
specific traits and crossbreed them into the computers super soybean. Long said it is
important to find solutions to the predicted global food shortage before it happens,
because even if the super soybean can become reality, it will be another 20 years
before the crop can appear in a farmer's field.

Comprehension Questions
1. Why does food production have to increase by 70 percent?
2. Whats the solution for food crisis?
3. How long will it take before the crop can appear in a farmers field?

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think there will be enough food for us in the future?
2. Do you believe that science can be the solution for food crisis?
3. Do you think its wise to crossbreed crops?
4. Do you have any suggestions to solve food shortage?

New Words & Expressions

crisis

(a time of intense difficulty)

ambassador

(an accredited diplomat sent by a country as its official

representative to a foreign country)

propulsion

(the action of driving or pushing forward)

trait

(a distinguishing quality)

density

(the degree of compactness of a substance)

predict

(estimate that a specific thing will happen in the future)

shortage

(a state in which something needed cant be obtained in sufficient

amounts)

crossbreed

(produce an animal or plant by crossbreeding)

Lesson
02

News English

Ousted Thai Prime Minister 'Detained' by Coup Leaders; US Suspends Aid

Todays News
BANGKOK Prayuth, the self-declared acting prime minister and ardent monarchist,
was able to intimidate his two previous civilian predecessors into reporting to an army
facility under threat of arrest if they disobeyed. A total of 155 people have been told
not to leave the country.

The junta boss on Friday also summoned civil servants and invited the diplomatic corps
and foreign military attaches for meetings to explain the new realities on the ground in
the kingdom.
As was apparently the case with most other heads of missions, U.S. Ambassador Kristie
Kenney did not accept the invitation. In a VOA interview, she said that, despite the
imposition of martial law on Tuesday, the coup announcement two days later came as
a bit of a surprise and it will hurt the relationship between Bangkok and Washington.
We have a longstanding relationship, Kenney said. But a coup in Thailand will have a
negative implication. There'll be a high-level review in Washington by the United States
government of our assistance and our engagements with Thailand, especially the Thai
military. So that'll be looked at very carefully.
Throughout most of Friday, Thai TV channels continued to carry only the army stations
programming, which was mostly patriotic music interspersed with pronouncements from
the new National Peace and Order Maintaining Council.

Comprehension Questions
1. How many people have been told not to leave the country?
2. Who is Kristie Kenney?
3. How did the university students defy the military order?

Discussion Questions
1. What is your opinion on monarchy?
2. Do you think TV channels must be controlled by the government?
3. Do you think that coup can bring the corrupt regime to an end?
4. Have you ever taken part in a demonstration?

New Words & Expressions

acting

(temporarily doing the duties of another person)

Despite the coup, Thailands 12th in eight decades, there was little significant troop
presence on the streets of the capital.

predecessor

(a person who held a job before the current holder)

junta

A small but significant demonstration, organized by university students, defied the

military order of no public gatherings by more than five people. They vented their
anger at soldiers and denounced the coup.

(a military group that rules a country after taking power by

force)

attache

(a person on the staff of an ambassador)

imposition

(the action of imposing something)

The most serious immediate impact from the coup is likely to be on Thailands lucrative
tourism industry.

implication

(the conclusion that can be drawn from something)

intersperse

(scatter among other things)

pronouncement

(an authoritative announcement)

defy

(openly refuse to obey)

vent

(give free expression to a strong emotion)

Lesson
03

News English

Blue Note Records Celebrates 75th Anniversary

Todays News

Comprehension Questions

Nothing that becomes legendary starts out that way. In 1939 Blue Notes Records was
the grain of an idea by Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff - two Germans who fell in love with
music like that by the boogie-woogie piano player, Albert Ammons.

1. When did Alfred Lion and Frank Wolff first hear jazz improvisation?

They first heard jazz improvisation as young men in Germany during the early years of
the Nazi regime. Richard Havers is writing a book about Blue Note, called
"Uncompromising Expressions." He says that, to the Nazis jazz was everything that
they hated. It was freedom of expression. It was not regimented. It didn't go to a
militaristic beat.

3. What is the hallmark of Blue Note jazz?

Lion and Wolff pursued their love of jazz and freedom by leaving Germany for the
United States. Shortly after arriving and hearing Ammons and another boogie-woogie
piano-player, Meade Lux Lewis, they scratched together some money, put Ammons in
a studio, and Blue Note Records was born. The label was swimming against the tide by
promoting boogie-woogie.

1. What kind of music do you usually listen to?

Back then it was all about dancing, said Dan Ouellette, who has written a book about
Blue Note called "Playing By Ear." .

4. Have you ever swum against the tide?

And people were not dancing to boogie-woogie piano. Ouellette says Alfred Lions
approach was more like a museum curator than a record producer.

2. How did they pursue their love of jazz and freedom?

Discussion Questions

2. Can you play any musical instruments?

3. Do you think record labels in Korea also treat artists as artists?

New Words & Expressions

He wanted to document this music," he said. "His whole philosophy is that jazz is an
art form.

grain

(a single seed)

improvisation

(the action of improvising)

Treating artists as artists and swimming against the tide became hallmarks of Blue Note
jazz, an approach that finally paid off in the 1940s, when jazz shifted, away from the
dance music of the Big Band Era and toward a new form that came to be called Bebop.

uncompromising

(showing an unwillingness to make concessions to

others)

regimented

(very strictly organized)

swim against the tide

(act against the prevailing tendency)

hallmark

(a distinguishing characteristic)

pay off

(yield good results)

shift

(move from one place to another)

According to Havers, Lion quickly realized that jazz was moving in a different direction,
and the first of the new wave of artists that he recorded was Thelonious Monk, who he
absolutely adored.
Thelonious Monk was famous for playing the wrong notes," said Ouellette. "Many
people thought it was just rubbish.

But while much of the music business didnt understand artists like Monk, Richard
Havers says this was another example of Blue Note treating artists like artists.
Alfred Lion gave his artists the freedom to do what they wanted to do," he said. "They
felt they were artists. They were not money machines.

Lesson
04

Hollywood Company Deals in Gruesome, Ghastly Props

Todays News
LOS ANGELES A Los Angeles company has found success making and marketing
ghastly props for Hollywood studios and lovers of ghost stories.
Workers pour liquid foam rubber into molds to create the grisly products, including
hands, heads and bloodied legs, says B J Winslow of the Hollywood business called
Dapper Cadaver.
You can come right in and grab body parts right off the shelf. Or we can do custom
project, custom fabrication for you," said Winslow.
Major movies, including the sequel to the adventure film X-Men, used these props. So
did the original and the sequel of the fantasy film 300.

Comprehension Questions
1. How do workers create the grisly products?
2. In what movies, were these props used?
3. How long does it take to produce a full body?

Discussion Questions
1. Are you a fan of horror movies?
2. Why do you think crime shows are popular?

Dapper Cadaver also works with TV shows about crime, medicine and forensic science.

3. Do you admire Hollywood?

We work with pretty much anybody who needs a dead body. It doesn't really matter.
We do a lot of stuff for film and television shows, stunt bodies, victims, stuff like that.
We also work with Halloween parties and events, haunted houses," said Winslow.

4. What do you think is a Hollywood illusion?

It takes about three days to produce a full body, after the cast is made.
A lot of times, we'll be working with a crime show where they'll send us very specific
cause of death and we've got to do our gruesome research. And some stuff is more
just for fun," he said.
A rough - cut arm or leg, hacked off by a chain saw. That could cost $40 or $50. A
more realistic head with a grimacing mouth will cost $100. Rubber hatchets and
hammers provide a grisly arsenal for Hollywood's on-screen perpetrators.
Headstones and caskets are also for rent or sale, and orders are sent around the United
States, Europe and Asia.
It's all Hollywood illusion, and Winslow says it fills a narrow but bloody important niche
in the entertainment business.

News English

New Words & Expressions

ghastly

(causing great horror)

prop

(a small object used by actors in a film)

grisly

(causing horror or disgust)

sequel

(a published work that continues the story of an earlier one)

gruesome

(causing repulsion)

hack off

(to cut off)

grimacing

(make a grimace)

arsenal

(a collection of weapons)

perpetrator

(someone who perpetrates wrongdoing)

niche

(a distinct segment of a market)

Lesson
05

News English

Energy Prices are Big Part of Ukraine Crisis

Todays News
Ukraine runs on natural gas, and its energy-inefficient homes and factories use a lot of
it.
The gas comes from Russia, until recently at a bargain price.

But that changed when Ukrainians ousted their pro-Russian president in February.
Russia raised the price by 40 percent.
Ukraine's new leaders have a dilemma, says energy market expert Pierre Noel of the
London-based International Institute for Strategic Studies.

Comprehension Questions
1. Why did Russia raise the price?
2. What difficult choices does Ukraine face now?
3. Why do business owners have to increase their prices?

Discussion Questions
1. Do you know gas prices in your country?

"They now face the very difficult choice, perhaps the impossible choice, of having to
choose between cheap gas and political submission to Russia, or expensive gas as the
price to pay for their political independence," he said.

2. Have there been any changes in gas prices in the past 10 years?

But Noel says Ukraine had been extracting a steep discount from Russia for decades
because it is home to the only gas pipeline to Russia's huge market in Western Europe,
and that was going to end anyway.

4. What could be the solution to the crisis?

Russia and its customers have been working for years to build two new pipelines that
will soon bypass Ukraine, eliminating the country's leverage and putting Russia in a
position to charge Ukraine a premium.

3. Tell me about the recent economic crisis in your country.

New Words & Expressions

oust

(drive out or expel from a position)

That is bad news for consumers and business owners, like Kyiv restaurateur Yuri Gelfat.

submission

(the action of yielding to a superior force)

"The price of gas will impact all of us," he said. "It affects heating, hot water. Higher
utility payments will mean we have to increase our prices."

extract

(remove by force)

steep

(expensive)

That may be one of the costs of energy independence.

bypass

(go past or around)

At his nearby clothing store, Ruslan Pavlyuk takes a broader view, calling for increased
efficiency and conservation, plus one other thing.

leverage

(influence)

restaurateur

(a person who owns and manages a restaurant)

"Ukrainians have to stop crying, tighten our belts and understand that we have more
fighting to do for our future," he said.

conservation

(the action of conserving something)

Lesson
06

South Korea Makes New Rules for International Marriages

Todays News

Comprehension Questions

Lee Soo-yeon is a Vietnamese migrant bride who now goes by her Korean name. The
36-year-old works as a translator at a center for immigrant women in Asan, a city 48
kilometers south of Seoul. She said her six-year marriage to a Korean man did not go
so well.

1. Why didn't Lee's marriage go well?

At first we could not communicate well. And later we began to fight a lot. He hit me. I
do not hate him now, but I realized he has a drinking problem, she said.

3. What does Chung think could help improve marriages?

The couples young child now lives with Lees mother-in-law. She said it does not look
like she will reunite with her husband. Lee blamed the marriage agency that introduced
them to each other back in Vietnam.
Marriage agencies do not provide any information about the men they introduce to
the women," she complained. "We need to know more about these men, their
personalities and their financial stability.
Faced with the rising number of divorces amongst international couples, the South
Korean government has made new rules for obtaining marriage visas.
There are financial requirements, but, the couple also must demonstrate they speak a
common language.
Chung Chin-sung is a sociology professor at Seoul National University and advises the
Korean government on multicultural family policy. She said a language requirement
could help improve marriages, but the new visa rules do not address the problem at
the core of these unions.
That kind of marriage market where, especially when women become a product, not a
human being, should be corrected, she said.
Chung said that could include banning agencies that arrange quick marriages between
people who barely know each other.
Jolly Regacho, a counselor at the Asan migrant center, said if the South Korean
government wants to make marriages last, more education might work better.

They should also make a project for the husband to learn the culture of their wife, as
well, said Regacho.
Migrant bride Lee Soo-yeon said that despite the break-up of her marriage, she does
not plan to go back to Vietnam. She said she will stay in Korea, her new home.

News English

2. Do marriage agencies provide enough information about the men they introduce
to the women?

Discussion Questions
1. What do you think of international marriage?
2. Do you think speaking common language is the most important thing for
international marriage?
3. Do you know a couple who have different nationalities?

4. What could be the solution to international marriage?

New Words & Expressions

migrant

(a person or an animal that migrates)

immigrant

(a person who comes to live permanently in a foreign country)

reunite

(come together again after a period of separation or disunity)

stability

(the state of being stable)

obtain

(get)

requirement

(a thing that is needed or wanted)

sociology

(the study of the development, structure, and functioning of

human society)

multicultural

(constituting several cultural or ethnic groups within a society)

Lesson
07

Bartender Parlays Chalk Menu Designs Into Profitable Art Career

Todays News
A Washington-area bartender who is as creative with chalk as he is with cocktails is now
creating one-of-a-kind artworks for high-profile clients.
During quiet hours on the job, Patrick Owens started drawing chalk images advertising
the days specials on the A-frame sandwich boards outside the bar where he works.
He has doodled since childhood but never pursued art as a serious endeavor. Once he
started working on the sandwich boards, Owens drew inspiration from popular
American culture, including music, books and movies.
Soon after he started drawing, his art started to get noticed and he started getting
private commissions.
One of Owens' recent clients was the Smithsonians National Air and Space Museum,
the most visited museum in the country.
He got the job after a museum intern searched the Internet looking for a chalk artist.
After an interview, Owens got the job.
Owens was selected to create an artistic version of a compass rose, a traditional design
on a map showing the principal directions, for the museum's new "Time & Navigation"
exhibit.

Comprehension Questions
1. When did Owens start drawing?
2. Why didn't the building crew want to take down the stanchions?
3. What does Owens love about his art?

Discussion Questions
1. What do you think of people who have jobs and work as artists at the same time?
2. Do you think it's unrealistic to pursue your dream?
3. Do you have friends who gave up their jobs to pursue their dream?
4. Tell me about your dream.

New Words & Expressions

one-of-a-kind

(a unique person)

Owens created a compass rose in chalk at the entrance of the museum, both as an
entryway treatment partially to get visitors in, said Mychalene Giampaoli, an education
specialist at the museum, but also to echo the fact that maps are very extensively used
in navigation.

high-profile

(attracting much attention or publicity)

doodle

(scribble absentmindedly)

endeavor

(effort)

Owens spent nine hours working on the project in the area leading up to the museum's
main entrance.

prompt

(cause or bring about)

commission

(a fee allowed to a sales representative)

The building crew didn't want to take down the stanchions [barriers] because they
didn't want anybody walking on it to ruin the art."

partially

(only in part)

stanchion

(barrier)

ephemeral

(lasting for a very short time)

dimension

(a measurable extent of some kind)

She asked Owens how he felt about people walking over something so beautiful, and
he goes, what I love about my art is that its so ephemeral.
The museum gave Owens an image to work from, but allowed him some creativity.

News English

Lesson
08

US Should Cut Security Aid to Uganda Over Anti-Gay Law

Todays News
Supporters of Uganda's new anti-gay law - which can lead to life in prison for
homosexual activity - say Washington should stay out of the country's .affairs.
"Somebody go tell Barack Obama: 'Africa says no. Africa says no to sodomy," said
Pastor Martin Ssempa. "We only know one way to love - a man marrying a woman.'"
Some in the LGBT (Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, and Transgender) community are leaving
Uganda in fear.
The new law has far broader consequences for the country, says Human Rights Watch's
Sarah Margon.
"We see the space for independent actors, activists, and civil society closing very
quickly," she said.
The World Bank moved quickly to postpone a $90 million loan to Uganda. But the
Obama administration says it is still considering how it might respond so as not to hurt
the Uganadan people.
"A lot of the aid that we provide goes to ensure services for things like lifesaving health
and medication for HIV/AIDS, to bring justice to those responsible for atrocities, like the
[rebel] LRA [Lord's Resistance Army]," said State Department Spokeswoman Jen Psaki.
"So we want to make sure that actions we take dont have a detrimental impact on the
Ugandan people who need those health services."

News English

Comprehension Questions
1. Who is Sarah Margon?
2. Why is Obama administration still considering how it might respond?
3. What is Uganda's stance on the issue of homosexuality?

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think anti-gay law should be banned?
2. Do you think gay couples have a right to get married?
3. Do you know what 'blackmail' is?
4. Do you think Western world encourages homosexuality?

New Words & Expressions

stay out of

~ (to avoid becoming involved in something)

consequence

(a result)

ensure

(make certain that something shall occur)

"There's been a lot of condemnatory statements. The time has kind of passed for that,"
she said. "The U.S. needs to actually take some concrete actions. One of the things
we've been talking about is looking at U.S. assistance to the police and security forces,
given that they are going to be the ones tasked with implementing the law."

lifesaving

(serving to save a person's life)

atrocity

(an extremely wicked or cruel act)

detrimental

(tending to cause harm)

Uganda remains defiant in the face of Western pressure over the anti-gay law.

condemnatory

(expressing strong disapproval)

"It is an attempted blackmail which the Western world has employed on the Africans for
the last two centuries, and I think Uganda is leading the way to stand up to this
blackmail," said government spokesman Ofwono Opondo.

defiant

(showing defiance)

in the face of

~ (in a situation where you have to deal with something

unpleasant or difficult)

President Yoweri Museveni says he will not be lectured on an issue that he says was
"provoked by Western groups who come to [Ugandan] schools and try to recruit
children into homosexuality.

provoke

(stimulate)

Margon says it is time the U.S. linked human rights with Ugandan security assistance.

Lesson
09

News English

New Robotic Arm Can Grasp Moving Objects

Todays News
An international team of engineers based in Switzerland built a robotic arm that learned
to perform complex movements.
The term "robotic arm" covers a variety of mechanical devices from robots that weld
automotive chassis to remotely controlled cranes on the International Space Station. In
between are artificial arms developed for humanoid robots or people who have lost
limbs.
Developed at the Federal Polytechnic School of Lausanne, the device, built in
cooperation with robotic manufacturer Simlab, is even capable of grabbing flying
objects.
According to researcher Seungsu Kim, the arm's processor takes only milliseconds to
calculate three primary parameters.
"First thing is to predict the whole trajectory," said Kim. "Second is finding the best
catching posture, and third is generation of arm motion."
But what most of us know how to do instinctively, the robotic arm had to learn from
scratch.
While catching a tennis racquet is easy compared to catching, say, a half-empty bottle
of water with liquid sloshing in flight, unpredictably changing its trajectory, researcher
Ashwini Shukla says different objects were thrown in its direction many times until the
processor learned to compare and predict flight patterns.
We teach the robot how to reach towards an object from many different directions,
and from that same time we teach it the coordination it needs to have between the
arm and the fingers to be able to successfully catch the object," said Shukla.
The team's leader, Professor Aude Billard, is especially proud of their achievement.
"This capacity to predict accurately very complex trajectory of what we call the grasping
point, which is non-linear ... that is the major scientific advance," said Billard.
Researchers hope their robotic arm may someday be used to grab and retrieve fast
moving and rotating space debris, whose rapidly increasing abundance threatens other
functioning objects, including the International Space Station.

Comprehension Questions
1. What are artificial arms developed for?
2. What does 'learn from scratch' mean?
3. What does Professor Aude Billard think is the major scientific advance?

Discussion Questions
1. Have you ever seen a robot before?
2. Do you think a robotic arm can replace a human limb?
3. What do you think a robot can do in the future?
4. Do you think developing robots is a good idea?

New Words & Expressions

weld

(join together metal pieces by heating the surfaces to the point

of melting)

chassis

(the base frame of a motor vehicle)

in between

(situated somewhere between two extremes)

parameter

(a measurable factor forming one of a set that defines a system)

trajectory

, (the path followed by an object moving under the action of

given forces)

from scratch

(from the very beginning)

slosh

(move irregularly with a splashing sound)

non-linear

(not arranged in a straight line)

retrieve

(regain possession of)

debris

(scattered fragments)

Lesson
10

Spying Charges Underscore US, China National Security Differences

Todays News
WASHINGTON The U.S. indictment of Chinese army officers on charges that they
spied on American industries reveals a basic disagreement about what the two nations
consider as their legitimate national security interests. That disagreement is affecting
relations between Washington and Beijing.

Steelworkers rallied in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, where the indictments were issued.

"Save our...steel jobs! Save our...steel jobs!" they chanted.
The indictments accuse Chinese spies of hacking into the U.S. Steel Corporation's
computers to learn how to make steel more cheaply, driving down world steel prices
and company profits. U.S. Steel has cut production and laid off workers.
"It's not been a level playing field for quite some time, and we're seeing why," said one
steelworker at a Pittsburgh rally.
China's Foreign Ministry spokesman Hong Lei angrily dismissed the charges. "The U.S.'
move once again shows the domineering attitude and hypocrisy of the U.S. China has
urged the U.S. to correct its mistakes and remove the so-called charges," he said.
While the U.S. government is reported to have spied on foreign companies, it has not
done so for economic gain, said Ben FitzGerald, at the Center for a New American
Security.
"We use it for national security, to do counterterrorism or for state-on-state-related
intelligence questions, so that our diplomats are better prepared, so that our military
professionals know what's coming, as opposed to trying to help our businesses
succeed," said FitzGerald. "That's just not part of our conception of how business is
done."

News English

Comprehension Questions
1. Why does the U.S. think that China hacked into the U.S. Steel Corporation's
computers?

2. What's the reason that the U.S. government has spied on foreign companies
before?
3. Who is Jay Carney?

Discussion Questions
1. Has your computer ever been hacked before?
2. Do you think spying on foreign companies for national security is acceptable?
3. Is there an espionage in Korea?

4. What do you have to do to keep your computer from hackers?

New Words & Expressions

indictment

(a formal accusation of a serious crime)

legitimate

(conforming to the law or to rules)

rally

(come together again in order to continue fighting after a defeat)

China sees economic gain, however, as a part of its national security interests.

laid off

(discharged)

"They have a much closer relationship between the health of their economy and their
businesses and their national security. Whereas, in a U.S. and often a European context,
we see those as separate activities," said FitzGerald.

level playing
field

(a situation in which everyone has a fair and equal

chance of succeeding)

domineering

(assert ones will over another in an arrogant way)

U.S. President Barack Obama and Chinese President Xi Jinping have discussed the
industrial espionage issue repeatedly, said White House spokesman Jay Carney.

counterterrorism

(political activities designed to prevent terrorism)

espionage

(the practice of spying)

"This is an issue that has been brought up by President Obama with President Xi in
their meetings as recently as in March, as a general problem that we have seen and
reflects the president's overall concern about cyber security," said Carney.

Lesson
11

News English

US Navy Lab Turns Seawater Into Fuel

Todays News
For centuries, alchemists have tried to turn lead into gold. That transmutation has long
been proven impossible, but another similar dream - turning water into fuel - seems to
be achievable. Scientists at a U.S. Naval Laboratory proved it by flying a model airplane
burning re-engineered seawater.

Natural gas and liquid fuels, burned in all kinds of internal combustion engines, are
chemical compounds of hydrogen and carbon, coming mostly from underground
reserves.
Oceans also are huge reservoirs of hydrogen, though, and - increasingly - carbon
dioxide, or CO2. Dissolved in seawater from the air, it makes the water more acidic.

Comprehension Questions
1. What makes the water more acidic?
2. What are the huge reservoirs of hydrogen?
3. Which chemical substance contributes to global warming?

Discussion Questions
1. Do you think it is possible to turn water into fuel?

Extracting those chemicals from the ocean and converting them into a form of liquid
fuel was made possible by some recent technological advances, according to U.S. Navy
researcher, Dr. Heather Willauer.

2. What do you think is the most important natural resource?

We've been actually able to show that we can recombine CO2 and hydrogen in the
laboratory on a lab-scale, laboratory scale, into a liquid-type fuel, she said.

3. What are some ways to prevent global warming?

The process requires a lot of electrical energy, which - to be economical - has to come
from a cheap source, such as a nuclear power plant.

3. Do you think global warming is accelerating?

New Words & Expressions

Obviously, the most efficient place to do it would be aboard a nuclear powered aircraft
carrier. Willauer said these ships may someday manufacture their own jet fuel.

transmutation

(the action of changing)

combustion

(the process of burning something)

Well, it is a game-changer potentially for the Navy or commercial entities because you
can make fuel potentially where and when you need it, she said.

reservoir

(a large natural or artificial lake used as a source of water supply)

acidic

(having the properties of an acid)

game-changer

(something unexpected which changes the rules of a process

viewed as a game)

entity

(a thing with distinct and independent existence)

equilibrium

(a state in which opposing forces are balanced)

carbon footprint

(the amount of carbon dioxide emitted into the

atmosphere)

The new fuel was tested successfully on a model airplane with a two-stroke engine. For
now, making it requires twice as much power as the fuel can produce, but researchers
hope to lower that ratio.
Willauer said the new process will not increase the amount of carbon dioxide in the
atmosphere, which contributes to global warming.
Once we've pulled it out of seawater, the ocean is ready to pull it back in from the
atmosphere, 'cause it's in constant equilibrium. So what we hope is it's a carbon-neutral
footprint, she said.
Scientists hope a small scale industrial plant may start converting seawater into fuel
within the next 15 years.

Lesson
12

News English

Antibiotic Resistance Requires Fast Actions

Todays News
Bacteria are tiny living beings...neither plant nor animal. Some, like the bacteria in
yogurt, are good for us, but others are deadly.
Like the World Health Organization, the U.S. Centers for Disease Control has found that
some bacteria no longer respond to antibiotics like they used to. Dr. Laurie Hicks is with
the CDC.
We are seeing greater than 2 million episodes of antibiotic resistant infections each
year in the U.S. alone. Twenty-three thousand of these episodes result in death," said
Hicks.
If there are messages the CDC wants to get out, one is: We want doctors to know that
antibiotic resistance is a big problem," said Hicks.
Another is: "We want patients to know that antibiotics dont work for viral infections,"
she said.
Antibiotic resistance already has changed the way medicine is practiced in hospitals like
Johns Hopkins in Baltimore.
Doctors there are now more cautious about how they use antibiotics, and they
constantly review treatment plans to see if patients are getting the right antibiotics and
the right dose. Dr. Trish Perl is an epidemiologist at Johns Hopkins Medicine.
You all of the sudden understand what it was like to practice medicine maybe 50, 70,
80 years ago when there werent antibiotics," said Perl.

Nearby, at the University of Maryland Medical Center, doctors have changed the way
they care for patients in the intensive care unit.
MRSA is an antibiotic resistant staph infection that spreads easily in a hospital,
especially in an intensive care unit, and it can be deadly. Dr. Anthony Harris studied
whether having health care workers wear gloves and gowns in intensive care units
could reduce the number of infections.
Wearing gloves and gowns for all patient contact lead to a significant decrease in
MRSA acquisition, accounting for about a 40 percent decrease. Resistance commonly
develops when people skip medications or take it one day and not the next. Or they
dont think they really have to take the entire course. Its particularly problematic with
diseases like tuberculosis," said Harris.

Comprehension Questions
1. What are the messages the CDC wants to get out?
2. What leads to a significant decrease in MRSA acquisition?
3. When does resistance commonly develop?

Discussion Questions
1. Are you currently taking any medicine?
2. If so, do you take the entire course or do you sometimes skip medications?
3. Do you know what antibiotic resistance is?
4. Are people worried about antibiotic resistance these days?

New Words & Expressions

antibiotic

(a medicine that inhibits the growth microorganisms)

resistance

(the ability not to be affected by something)

viral

(relating to a virus)

epidemiologist

(a medical scientist who studies the transmission and control

of epidemic diseases)

staph

(a bacterium of a genus that includes many pathogenic kinds

that cause pus formation, especially in the skin and mucous membranes)

MRSA

(methicillin-resistant staphylococcus aureus)

acquisition

(the act of acquiring)

tuberculosis

(an infectious bacterial disease characterized by the growth of

nodules in the tissues, especially in the lungs)