20180422: 美国之音(voa)慢速英语 30分钟
美国之音(voa)慢速英语 30分钟
内容：
1_Cambodia TV Station Forms Unusual Partnership with China
2_Swimmer Michael Phelps Talks About Saving Water
3_ Get Ready to Have Your 'Mind Blown!’
4_College Admissions: Receiving Support through Recommendations
<1>Cambodia TV Station Forms Unusual Partnership with China
NICE TV is a new television station in Cambodia with an unusual business model.
The company is a majority Chinese-owned television network in Cambodia. The Cambodian Ministry of Interior holds a minority share of ownership in the company. The offices for NICE TV are inside the buildings of the interior ministry.
The goal, officials say, is to make news and programs that connect better with Cambodian audiences.
Jason Liu is Chief Operations Officer of NICE TV. He spoke to VOA about the station and what it broadcasts.
Its news stories include things like preparations for the upcoming water festival, a big event in Cambodia. Producers at NICE TV say usual stories include things like people’s complaints about floods and traffic.
An important part of NICE TV’s efforts to better connect with people is an app the company has developed called Tutu Live. The application permits viewers to be part of TV programs just as people call in to radio programs to take part in a show. Tutu Live lets people be seen as well as heard.
The app is being used to create what is called user-generated content, or programming that is partly created by people who watch the TV shows and also want to appear in them.
Liu told VOA that being linked to the Ministry of Interior makes it possible to use resources that can increase content.
He said, “The ministry has a police network all around Cambodia so we want to create social news and we can use this resource to create the best social news in Cambodia.”
Concerns in a media industry with fewer voices
However, some Cambodians are concerned about the partnership.
The government has shut down media groups that have criticized the ruling Cambodian People’s Party or Prime Minister Hun Sen. These include the opposition newspaper, The Cambodian Daily, and broadcasters such as Radio Free Asia. There are concerns that The Phnom Penh Post also will face closure.
Nop Vy is the acting head of the Cambodian Center for Independent Media. He said the partnership between a foreign company and a ministry responsible for Cambodian state security looked, in his words, “not good.”
He said, “The image of the location in the ministry itself and the work of the private company interferes into the work of the ministry, and [the] Ministry of Interior’s roleis very important.”
He added that the partnership could limit what the station could report on. “For example not doing something against China,” he said.
Liu said NICE TV is free to report on whatever its officials choose. However, he notes that the station avoids sensitive political stories or opposition opinions. He said this has more to do with what viewers want to watch than with state restrictions.
“The role of TV is to make people’s living better, it is not to make conflict,” he said.
Huy Vannak is the undersecretary of state in the Ministry of Interior.
He said the content of NICE TV will mainly deal with entertainment. But, he said, the TV station will seek “to inform the people” about how to provide better public services. He said that is the purpose of the TV station.
The ministry has a big job, he said, explaining that the ministry provides security and other public services.
“The ministry is run and has a big task to the people basically at the grass-roots level because we have the police department on the security side and we have the public service on the administration side,” he said.
However, the details of the ministry’s business relationship with NICE TV remain unclear.
Liu admits that it is unusual for a foreign company to hold such a partnership with a government ministry. He said NICE TV is a fully private operation that has seen improvement in relations between Cambodia and China.
I’m Mario Ritter.
David Boyle reported this story for VOA News. Mario Ritter adapted it for VOA Learning English. Ashley Thompson was the editor.
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Words in This Story
audience –n. the group of people who listen to, watch or read a media performance or work
app –(application) n. a computer program designed to do a specific task or set of related or connected tasks
content –n. the ideas, facts, or images that are in a book, article, movie, etc.
location –n. a place
role –n. a part that someone or something has in a particular activity
grass-roots –adj. the ordinary people in a society or organization
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<2> Swimmer Michael Phelps Talks About Saving Water
American Michael Phelps possess more Olympic medals than anyone else in history.
Phelps won 28 medals over the years as a competitive swimmer. So he knows a thing or two about water.
Retired from the sport, Phelps has developed a new interest in water: saving it.
Colgate campaign
Recently, Phelps was in New York City for a public appearance. He spoke about his partnership with Colgate-Palmolive, the manufacturer of Colgate toothpasteproducts. They are working together to bring attention to the need for water conservation -- safeguarding water supplies from overuse.
Phelps told reporters “Water has been such a big part of my life and important part of my life. And for me, it’s an honor and a pleasure to be able to spread the word that we need to conserve as much as we can.”
Colgate’s Save Water campaign has a simple message. It is urging people to turn off running water while cleaning your teeth. Phelps said the shocking numbers around water waste were a big surprise for him.
“Leaving the water running when you’re brushing your teeth ruins and wastes 4 gallons of water. It’s like 64 glasses of water,” he said.
Phelps added that everyone should also use less water when they clean up.
Stickers, smart speakers
With Earth Day on Sunday, Colgate has created a water-activated drain sticker that urges people to conserve water. When wet, it shows the message “Turn off the faucet.”
Currently, the sticker is only sold at Walmart stores. But you can also make the promise on Colgate’s website to save water and share your promise on social media.
The company is also taking its Save Water campaign to owners of smart speakers, such as the Google Home or Amazon Alexa. It says they can use voice commands, like, “Hey Google, talk to Save Water by Colgate,” to hear the sound of running water while their faucet is turned off.
Phelps says small efforts like this can have an effect, both locally and around the world.
”It’s just common sense,” he said. “You’re standing there brushing your teeth…don’t have the water running. It’s as simple as that. It’s just one quick turn. And it’s so easy that everyone can do it. I think that’s a big, easy step that we can all take. Every single one of us.”
Future generations
About 4.3 billion people experience moderate to severe water scarcity at least one month every year. That number represents about 71 percent of the world’s population.
The Olympic champion and father of two is thinking of future generations in his efforts to bring attention to environmental issues.
“…(I) have a 2-year-old now. He’s kind of picking up on every little small thing that we do,” Phelps said. “It’s fun to teach him things like this early in their life because then it allows them to be able to carry it through their life but also teach other people the importance of conserving water.”
It’s just one of many teachings Phelps is passing on to others. These days, he spends more time playing golf than swimming, but what he has learned remains the same.
“Whenever you say you can’t do something, you might as well just give up on it,” he noted. “You’ve already had that idea in your head that you can’t do something, so you’re just wasting your time. That was something at a very young age that I learned and it was hard. But once I got it, I just believed that I could use my mind, and I could get to any place where I wanted to go,” Phelps said.
I'm Susan Shand.
Tina Trihn reported this story for VOA News. Susan Shand adapted it for Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
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Words in This Story
toothpaste – n. a product that is used for cleaning teeth
conservation – n. the protection of something
brush – v. an act of cleaning or smoothing something with a brush
drain – n. something (such as a pipe) that is used for removing a liquid from a place or container
faucet – n. a device that is used to control the flow of water from a pipe
pick up – v. to gain possession; to learn by watching
allow – v. to permit or let
<3> Get Ready to Have Your 'Mind Blown!’
FILE - Kevin Real, a research assistant at the University of Nebraska's Center for Brain, Biology and Behavior in Lincoln, Nebraska, is fitted with a device to detect brain activity.
Now, the VOA Learning English program Words and Their Stories. On this program we explore common expressions that we use in everyday life.
Today we are talking about a simple verb -- "to blow."
Sometimes the word means to push air out of your mouth, like when a child blows bubbles or when you blow out the candles on your birthday cake. You can also blow your nose when you are sick. Or, when you love someone, you may blow them a kiss.
Those expressions are easy to understand. But what does it mean to blow someone's cover?
Here is a hint: A spy might worry about her cover being blown, especially if she uses a false name and a made-up life story. When someone's cover is blown, that person’s real identity is discovered!
But even us non-spies can use this expression. Anytime you present false information and then you let the truth slip out, you have blown your cover.
Being discovered when you are trying to hide can be very upsetting. You could become angry. In such times, you might blow your stack, or blow your top. You could also blow a fuse or blow a gasket. These all mean to get so angry that you lose control.
So, be careful when you are blowing your stack, top, fuse or gasket. When you are so angry, you might make mistakes. For example, if you blow your stack while taking a test, you might blow it. In other words, you fail it as a result of your own actions.
You can also blow an important assignment at work. You can blow it with a personal relationship. Unfortunately, with almost anything … you can blow it!
Blowing it is really upsetting. So, to blow off steam, you might go for a long walk in the woods. Blowing off steam helps us to relax when we are angry or upset. Think of a teapot. It releases steam when it gets too hot. The same can be said for us!
Now, let's talk about grammar for a moment.
As you probably know, when we use the active tense of a verb, the subject is doing the action. In the passive tense, the subject is receiving the action.
For example, we often use the expression mind blown in the passive tense. You can have your mind blown by just about anything that’s really, really good. I've had my mind blown by a really smart movie or by a really delicious meal.
You can also turn this expression around and make it active. For example, I can say, “I had an amazing Saturday night. That movie and meal really blew my mind!”
We also commonly use this expression as an adjective.
Let's say you are a great soccer player. Your abilities to dribble and score are mind-blowing. In fact, in your last season, every game you played was a blow out. In other words, your team beat the other team by many, many points.
Now, let's say you that during one of those blow-out games, you scored the most points. So, when reporters interview you, you take credit for the win. You even criticize your teammates for almost blowing the game with all of their mistakes. As a result, your team gets upset with you, and your fans are not too happy either.
You blew your own horn way too much. When people blow their own horns, they talk too much and too proudly about their own successes. The words may be music to their ears, but others rarely enjoy listening to people blowing their own horns.
But let’s go back to your soccer game.
Everyone is angry with you after you blew the press conference. So, you decide to leave town for a few days -- just until the bad press blows over.
When a storm blows over, it passes. If I look out the window and see that the dark clouds moving quickly and blue skies are in the distance, I can say, "Don't worry. This storm will blow over soon."
Happily for us, problems can blow over too.
See? We have thousands of expressions that use the verb "blow." Okay, not really thousands. I am blowing things out of proportion. When you blow something out of proportion you make it seem bigger and more important than it is.
Since we are talking about making a big deal out of nothing, we have a fun expression that means the same thing. If you make a small problem into a bigger one, you have made a mountain out of a molehill.
And that's the end of this week's Words and Their Stories.
I promise that I won't blow off my weekly assignment of writing another story -- because that would mean I did not do something that I was supposed to do.
I'm Anna Matteo.
When it all blows over, can we start again? When we’ve both grown older will you love me then? Say you’ll love me then.”
Anna Matteo wrote this story. Kelly Jean Kelly was the editor. The song at the end is Echo and the Bunnymen singing “When It All Blows Over.”
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Words in This Story
bubble – n. a very light ball of air inside a thin layer of soap
slip out – phrasal verb : to be said by mistake
stack – n. a tall chimney on a factory, ship, etc., for carrying smoke away : smokestack
fuse – n. a device that causes electricity to stop flowing when a current becomes too strong
gasket – n. a piece of rubber or some other material that is used to make a tight seal between two parts that are joined together
proportion – n. the relationship that exists between the size, number, or amount of two things
molehill – n. a small pile of dirt that is pushed up by a mole when it digs tunnels underground
<4>College Admissions: Receiving Support through Recommendations
Students walk across the University of Redlands campus in Redlands, California.
When it comes to reaching one’s goals, there is a saying English speakers often use to explain the path to success. It goes like this:
“It’s not what you know, but who you know...”
Those words suggest that being hard working or knowledgeable is not the only way to get what you want in life. Very often it can even be more important to have a relationship with someone who can help you reach your goals.
Kenley Jones says that in a way, the same could be said of the process of applying to colleges and universities in the United States.
Jones is the director of international admissions at the University of Redlands, a private, liberal arts and science university in southern California. He says most U.S. colleges and universities often base their admissions decisions on an applicant’s test results and school work. But he admits that this information does not always do the best job of explaining the strengths of each applicant.
There are other parts of a college application that do more to describe personal qualities, says Jones.
For example, most U.S. colleges and universities ask applicants to list their activities outside the classroom. Also, many require applicants to provide a brief written statement that describes the kind of people they are.
But Jones notes that many students list activities which some admissions officials may know very little or nothing about. Some students may feel listing specific details of these activities is unimportant because they do not directly relate to their field of study, he says. And some students may be unwilling or unable to share this information about themselves in writing.
“There’s many cultures out there where students taking upon themselves to stand out…about certain…things that they’re involved in, socially, would be considered sort of a negative thing,” Jones told VOA. “So sometimes it’s very hard to get students, depending on the culture or situation, to expound on some of the things they’re doing…And it takes, sometimes an active voice from someone else to…bring that to life and to our attention as well.”
Jones argues that not every student has to be the strongest writer. That is especially true if students are applying to a program in which writing is not a major part of their duties. But in that case, they will need a recommendation from someone who is skilled in writing a letter in support of the applicant.
Most U.S. colleges and universities require applicants to provide at least one letter of recommendation, Jones says. However, these statements should not be from just anyone who knows the applicant. After all, he notes, admissions officials expect most applicant’s friends and family to be extremely supportive of the student.
Schools want to hear from people who will speak honestly and objectively about an applicant, says Jones. Admissions officials want to hear what an individual outside the applicant’s immediate circle of contacts thinks of that person. And they want to hear examples of the better qualities the student has demonstrated over the years.
Jones adds that, depending on who offers it, a letter of recommendation can bring attention to a quality a student might not think about. For example, an employer might be able to describe leadership qualities that an applicant may not know he or she is demonstrating.
However, recommendations do not always have to say how great an applicant is, he adds. The person writing the recommendation can explain to admissions officials how a student overcame a serious mistake. The writer could, for example, say how he or she witnessed the applicant getting caught doing something dishonest in school. But then the writer could say how the applicant learned the seriousness of the offense and demonstrated a change in behavior.
“A letter of recommendation can add a little bit of context,” Jones said. “It can add a little bit of strength. It can clarify some things and really push the decision, typically, in favor of the student.”
That is why asking the right people to write a letter of recommendation is important, says Jones. Some colleges and universities have rules about exactly who should write such letters. Admissions officers often want the writer to be a teacher the applicant studied under, often teachers of specific subjects. Jones says applicants should choose someone they have studied under recently.
If a school lets applicants name whomever they want to write a recommendation, he says, there are often plenty of people who would be a good choice. This includes religious leaders, leaders of sports teams, volunteer and social group organizers, work supervisors and co-workers. Almost anyone an applicant feels they have a strong relationship with would be a good person to ask.
Some applicants might feel unsure about who in their lives they might have this kind of connection with, Jones notes. In that case, the applicant should ask teachers, friends and family members who they think might be able to provide a strong recommendation.
But he also says just because an applicant wants a recommendation from a specific person does not mean that person will know how to write one.
“You want somebody who feels comfortable writing on your behalf,” he said. “And I think that’s a good question to ask someone that you want to write on your behalf. Are they comfortable with writing a letter of recommendation for you? And even if they are comfortable I think there are some things students can do to get the most out of that recommendation.”
Jones notes that applicants have no control over what people will write about them. Most schools will not let applicants read a letter of recommendation before the writer sends it. But applicants can discuss the things they think are important about themselves and make suggestions before the letter is written. And applicants should ask for letters of recommendation well before the final date that schools will accept them. That way the writer has plenty of time to consider everything they want to say in support of the applicant.
I’m Pete Musto.
And I’m Dorothy Gundy.
Pete Musto reported this story for VOA Learning English. George Grow was the editor.
We want to hear from you. How common is it for colleges and universities in your country to ask for letters of recommendation from applicants? Who do they expect these letters to come from? Write to us in the Comments Section or on our Facebook page.
Words in This Story
apply(ing) – v. to ask formally for something such as a job, admission to a school, or a loan
specific – adj. special or particular
negative – adj. harmful or bad
expound – v. to give details about something
recommendation – n. the act of saying that someone or something is good and deserves to be chosen
objectively – adv. done based on facts rather than feelings or opinions
context – n. the group of conditions that exist where and when something happens
favor – n. in support of someone
comfortable – adj. not worried or troubled
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