【慢速听力 3 篇 】Iran Denies Shooting Down Ukrainian Plane
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No.1
AS IT IS
Iran Denies Shooting Down Ukrainian Plane
January 10, 2020
Iran has denied reports that one of its missiles hit a Ukrainian passenger airplane.
The Ukraine International Airlines jet crashed earlier this week near Tehran, killing all 176 people on board.
Iranian officials called on the United States and Canada Friday to share any information they have on the crash.
The plane broke up just hours after Iran launched missiles at two air bases in neighboring Iraq. The bases housed U.S. troops. Iran launched the attacks to answer the killing of its top general in a U.S. airstrike last week.
The downed aircraft was carrying 63 Canadians. On Thursday, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau said, “The evidence indicates that the plane was shot down by an Iranian surface-to-air missile.” He noted the information came from several intelligence sources.
U.S. officials said that Iran might have mistakenly identified the Boeing 737 as a threat.
Ali Abedzadeh is head of Iran’s national aviation office. He said Friday, “What we can say with certainty is that no missile hit the plane.” He urged Western nations to, in his words, “come and show their findings to the world.”
Western governments may not be ready to share the information because it comes from highly classified intelligence sources. However, The Associated Press, The New York Times and other media companies released videos appearing to show something hitting a plane near Tehran's main airport.
In one video from The Associated Press, someone off camera says: “The plane has caught fire...In the name of God, the compassionate, the merciful. God, please help us. Call the fire department!” The comments were made in Farsi, the official language of Iran.
Recovering the black boxes
Shortly after the crash, Iran reported the recovery of the plane’s flight recorders -- or black boxes.
Abedzadeh announced, “We prefer to download the black boxes in Iran. But if we see that we can’t do that because the boxes are damaged, then we will seek help.”
The head of the Iranian investigation team said that the process could take more than a month and that the investigation could stretch into next year.
Under United Nations aviation rules, the U.S. National Transportation Safety Board, or NTSB, can join the investigation because the crash involved an airplane designed and built in the U.S.
The NTSB said Thursday night that its involvement could be limited by U.S. sanctions on Iran. U.S. officials have expressed concern about sending employees to Iran because of the heightened tensions.
Iran had first said it would not let Boeing -- the plane’s manufacturer -- take part in the investigation. The state-operated IRNA news agency later reported that Iran “has invited both Ukraine and the Boeing company to participate in the investigations.”
In Ukraine, President Volodymyr Zelenskiy said “the missile theory is not ruled out, but it has not been confirmed yet.” The government said it wanted to search the crash site for any sign of a Russian-made missile used by Iran.
A preliminary Iranian report released Thursday noted that the plane’s pilots never made a radio call for help. The report said that an emergency problem happened just minutes after the flight left Tehran.
The plane reportedly was heading to a nearby airport before it crashed.
I'm Caty Weaver.
Hai Do adapted this story for Learning English from reports by the Associated Press and Reuters. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
on board - n. in or on a plane, train, boat...
indicate - v. to show (something): to show that (something) exists or is true
source - n. someone or something that provides information
aviation - n. the business or practice of flying
certainty - n. a fact about which there is no doubt
classified - adj. kept secret from all but a few people in government
merciful - adj. Kind and forgiving; not cruel or harsh; having or showing mercy
prefer - v. to like better or best
sanctions - n. economic or military measures designed to force a nation to do something or stop doing something
participate - v. to take part
preliminary - adj. coming before the main part of something
No.2
AS IT IS
Economic Numbers Confirm Trump's Twitter-based Claims
January 10, 2020
Traders monitor stock prices at the New York Stock Exchange, Thursday, Jan. 2, 2020. Global shares rose Thursday on optimism about a U.S.-China trade deal and the Chinese government's efforts to boost its economy. (AP Photo/Mark Lennihan)
The third year of Donald Trump's presidency seems likely to be remembered more for his impeachment than for anything else. But a look at economic data shows that the United States economy expanded in 2019. In fact, many economic numbers appear to confirm much of Trump’s claims about the economy.
There are worries about the future. But the main economic measures rose, overcoming the effects of the trade war with China.
However, a tax cut and large increase in the national debt guarantee that interest payments will take up an increasing share of the federal budget. At the same time, if there is any sign of weakness in the U.S. economy, the U.S. central bank -- the Federal Reserve -- could find it does not have the tools to influence events.
Jobs, jobs, jobs
Trump promised to create more jobs when he campaigned for the presidency in 2016. The U.S. Bureau of Labor Statistics reports the country has added about 6.8 million of them since then.
Growth
During Trump's first two years in office, economic growth rose sharply. Between 2011 and 2016, the gross domestic product (GDP) increased by about 2 percent each year. In Trump's first two years, that average increased to 2.9 percent.
In 2019, however, GDP appeared likely to end the year at a 2.1 percent rate of growth.
Economists suggest the slowdown is partly the result of American policies in international trade.
Trade
In 2019, Trump escalated a trade war with China. He placed tariffs on hundreds of billions of dollars' worth of imports. So, China ordered tariffs on imports from the United States.
As a result, Americans have paid tens of billions of dollars more for Chinese products than they would have without the tariffs, and U.S. exporters have suffered business losses. The money that comes to the U.S. government from the higher tariffs has gone to farmers, whose products have been affected by the Chinese tariffs.
Trump announced in early December that he would order tariffs on steel from Brazil and Argentina. He also promised to put a 100 percent tariff on some imports from France. Clearly, the president is not backing away from his decision.
Markets
Economists and other experts will warn that "the stock market is not the economy," and they are correct. But stock prices do show that investors’ believe the economy will continue growing because they have continued to rise.
In early 2019, the financial markets were coming off a period of unrest, but worries about their future growth left as the year continued. Major markets show year-to-date returns of between 20 percent and 25 percent through early December.
Interest rates
Interest rates have been part of economic concerns since before Trump took office. With the economy growing and unemployment decreasing, most Americans expected wages would rise. That would drive up prices and lead to higher inflation. But that did not happen. While the economy was adding millions of jobs, wages did not grow and inflation has been below 2 percent.
Deficit
During a long period of economic growth, the federal government usually sets aside a lot of money or pays off its debt. But under Trump, that has not happened. Instead, the U.S. federal debt has increased every year and is now more the $22 trillion.
The increased debt worries people because of the share of the federal budget that must be used to pay interest. Experts warn that amount will only grow if the United States enters a recession.
I’m Susan Shand.
The Associated Press reported this story. Susan Shand adapted it for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
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Words in This Story
impeachment – n. to charge a public official with a crime done while in office
statistics – n. a number that represents a piece of information
Gross domestic product (GDP) – n. the total value of the goods and services produced by the people of a nation during a year
tariff – n. a tax on goods coming into or leaving a country
escalate - v. to make something worse
No.3
HEALTH & LIFESTYLE
American Cancer Society Reports Largest Ever Drop in US Cancer Deaths
January 10, 2020
Researchers have reported the largest-ever single-year drop in cancer death rates in the United States.
The rate of deaths from cancer fell 2.2 percent from 2016 to 2017. That is the largest drop since record-keeping began in 1930.
The information comes from a new report by the American Cancer Society. The group announced the report’s findings Wednesday.
The Cancer Society says that overall death rates from cancer have fallen about 1.5 percent each year since 1991. Better treatments for lung cancer are part of the reason for the falling numbers, said Rebecca Siegel. She was the lead writer of the report.
“Lung cancer has been the most common cause of cancer death in the United States, and now…we have better therapies for our patients and … patients are living longer and better than ever before.”
If deaths from lung cancer were not counted, the 2017 rate drop would only be 1.4 percent, Siegel added.
In addition to better treatments, fewer people are getting lung cancer because fewer people are smoking.
Improved treatments for lung cancer include the areas of surgery, scanning, and use of radiation.
There are also better drugs. Genetic testing helps doctors choose the right drugs for the kind of cancer in a patient.
Doctor Jyoti Patel is a lung cancer expert with Northwestern University in Illinois.
She said new drugs that get the patient’s own immune system to fight the cancer could help make the death rate fall even more.
American Cancer Society researchers also found a large decrease in the death rate from melanoma, a kind of skin cancer. It has fallen by 7 percent a year recently. The decrease is largely because of new drugs that became available about nine years ago.
There are differences in cancer rates among racial and ethnic groups in the United States. African Americans have for many years had higher rates of cancer than white Americans. However, that gap is shrinking. Hispanic Americans have generally had the lowest cancer rates.
I’m Jill Robbins.
Mike Stobbe reported on this story for the Associated Press. Jill Robbins adapted it for Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
surgery – n. medical treatment in which a doctor cuts into someone's body in order to repair or remove damaged or diseased parts
scan – v. to look at the inside of (something) by using a special machine
immune system – n. the system that protects your body from diseases and infections
hepatitis – n. a serious disease of the liver that causes fever and makes your skin and eyes yellow