English News

What Thanksgiving Day Means to People in US

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 19:35:36 -0400

VOICE ONE:

Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA. I'm Faith Lapidus. ThisThursday is a day for families and friends to share a special holiday meal andthink about what they are thankful for. This week on our program, we ask somepeople to share their favorite memories of Thanksgiving Day.

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VOICE ONE:

Special English reporters June Simms and Dana Demange talkedto people about the holiday.

JIM OLDHAM: "My name is Jim Oldham and I'm fromNashville, Tennessee. I remember my father drove a bus and my mother was awaitress, and so we often didn't get to have Thanksgiving together. And Iremember when I was about twelve, her work and his work permitted us all to dothat. And we had brothers and sisters, and the traditional turkey and all thetrimmings. We always had pumpkin pie, and if we were really lucky, a little bitof whipped cream on top. And it was just a wonderful day."

ANN GEIGER: "I'm Ann Geiger from Tucson, Arizona. Thanksgivingis special for our family because like so many families our adult children livearound the country. And we usually get at least part of them together forThanksgiving."

REPORTER: "And what is one of your fondestThanksgiving Day memories?"

ANN GEIGER: "Oh, I think a recent Thanksgivingwhen my son and I had a turkey cook-off. He brined his turkey and I didn'tbrine mine. And we decided which one was the best."

REPORTER: "Who won?"

ANN GEIGER: "He did."

VOICE ONE:

Brining is a way to prepare meat in a salt solution, whetherfor a competitive "cook-off" or just any meal. Traditionally the meatserved on Thanksgiving is turkey. The bird is usually served with side dishesincluding a mixture known either as stuffing or dressing.

Many families also bring out their finesttable settings -- the "good china" -- for Thanksgiving.

JOEL UPTON: "My name is Joel Upton. I'm from Livingston,Tennessee. Thanksgiving at my family was always a time when brothers andsisters, aunts and uncles, cousins, we all got together. And someone wouldbring different dishes. Someone would bring the sweet potatoes. Someone wouldbring the meat. Someone would bring the dressing. And we would all sort ofcombine the efforts to have a family Thanksgiving dinner and bring out the goodchina for that particular event.

And Thanksgiving also, in my early days when Iwas a child, the kids would all get to play, maybe we hadn't seen each otherfor a while. The men would always watch a football game on TV. And Thanksgivingwas just a really, really special time. And, of course, we had in mind the Pilgrimsand what it was all about too. But it was a family time."

VOICE ONE:

The Pilgrims first arrived in America in sixteentwenty. They were separatists from the Church of England and other settlers. Theship that brought the first group was the Mayflower.

Anexploring party landed at Plymouth, in what became the Commonwealth ofMassachusetts. The state is named after an American Indian tribe -- arecognition of the groups that came long before the Pilgrims.

The first Pilgrims established a village. Those whosurvived the first difficult years held harvest festivals and religiouscelebrations of thanksgiving. These events formed the basis of the holiday thatAmericans now celebrate.

But there are no official "rules"for a Thanksgiving meal. Some people like to find ways to do things a littledifferently.

BUTCH HUNSINGER: "Butch Hunsinger fromWilliamsport, Pennsylvania."

REPORTER:"The bird. What are you going to do differently this year?"

BUTCHHUNSINGER: "Try to shoot it myself, instead of go to the store to buy it.Go to the family cabin, and hunt on the family land and try to call in a turkeyand fire away."

REPORTER:"And who's the better shot in the family?"

BUTCH:"Oh my son, by far."

REPORTER:"What about your worst Thanksgiving memory?"

BUTCH:"Worst…[Laughter] The worst was also the funnest, 'cause I got up earlyThanksgiving day and we went to the Burwick Marathon, but it's a nine-mile roadrace. Just a crusher." [Laughter]

HUGUETTEMBELLA: "Hi, my name is Huguette Mbella. And I was born in Cameroon andgrew up in France. And I live now in the United States in Washington, D.C. Thewhole concept of Thanksgiving was a little bit bizarre. In France, the maincelebration is Christmas, not Thanksgiving."

REPORTER:"Can you think of one of your most fond Thanksgiving memories?"

HUGUETTEMBELLA: "I would say my first one. It was in New York. Suddenly the turkeycomes on the table, and I was amazed by the size. It was huge! The first thingthat came to my mind was actually that's a lot of food!"

ELIZABETH BRINKMAN: "My name is Elizabeth Brinkmanand I'm from Cleveland, Ohio. It was always a day that my mother did all thecooking. And we had turkey and I got to chop the vegetables for the dressing.And we got out the good china."

GORDON GEIGER: "Gordon Geiger from Tucson,Arizona. We used to get together at my parents' house and all of my relativeswould come over and we'd have a big dinner. And after dinner we would watch footballgames on the television.

I think it's probably really the most importantholiday in the United States because it is a day that is not tied to aparticular religion. It is not tied as much to commercial activities. It's morea reflection of the fact that we've had a good life and we appreciate it."

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VOICE ONE:

This Thanksgiving, Americans can be thankful that the GreatRecession may be over. But the job market faces a long recovery. Unemployment is now above ten percent. And ifthe underemployed are added, the rate is seventeen and a half percent. Theunderemployed are people no longer searching for work or only able to find parttime jobs.

Lastweek, the United States Department of Agriculture released its "household foodsecurity" report for two thousand eight. The study found that families inseventeen million households had difficulty getting enough food at times duringthe year. That was almost fifteen percent -- up from eleven percent in twothousand seven. It was the highest level since the current surveys began innineteen ninety-five.

TheAgriculture Department says poverty is the main cause of food insecurity andhunger in the United States.

PresidentObama, in a statement, called the report unsettling. Especially troubling, hesaid, is that there were more than five hundred thousand families in which achild experienced hunger multiple times during the year.

Hesaid the first task is to renew job growth, but added that his administrationis taking other steps to prevent hunger. These include an increase in aid for peoplein the government's nutrition assistance program, commonly known as foodstamps.

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VOICE ONE:

TheContinental Congress wrote the first national Thanksgiving proclamation inseventeen seventy-seven, during the Revolutionary War. George Washington issuedthe first presidential Thanksgiving proclamation in seventeen eighty-nine. Hereis part of what he wrote.

READER:

Whereas it is the duty of all nations to acknowledgethe providence of almighty God, to obey his will, to be grateful for hisbenefits, and humbly to implore his protection and favor -- and whereas both housesof Congress have by their joint committee requested me "to recommend tothe people of the United States a day of public thanksgiving and prayer to beobserved by acknowledging with grateful hearts the many signal favors ofAlmighty God, especially by affording them an opportunity peaceably toestablish a form of government for their safety and happiness."

Nowtherefore I do recommend and assign Thursday the twenty-sixth day of Novembernext to be devoted by the people of these states to the service of that greatand glorious being, who is the beneficent author of all the good that was, thatis, or that will be ...

VOICE ONE:

SarahJosepha Hale was a magazine editor and writer who campaigned for a Thanksgivingholiday. That way, there would be "two great American nationalfestivals," she said, the other being Independence Day on the Fourth ofJuly.

InSeptember of eighteen sixty-three, Sarah Josepha Hale appealed to PresidentAbraham Lincoln. Lincoln had made proclamations in the spring of eighteensixty-two and sixty-three. But these gave thanks for victories in battle duringthe Civil War.

Then came another proclamation onOctober third, eighteen sixty-three. It gave more general thanks for theblessings of the year. This is part of what it said:

READER:

In themidst of a civil war of unequaled magnitude and severity, which has sometimesseemed to foreign states to invite and to provoke their aggression, peace hasbeen preserved with all nations, order has been maintained, the laws have beenrespected and obeyed, and harmony has prevailed everywhere, except in thetheater of military conflict, while that theater has been greatly contracted bythe advancing armies and navies of the Union.

Needful diversions of wealth and of strength from thefields of peaceful industry to the national defense have not arrested the plow,the shuttle, or the ship; the ax has enlarged the borders of our settlements,and the mines, as well of iron and coal as of the precious metals, have yieldedeven more abundantly than heretofore. ...

I do therefore invite my fellow-citizens in every partof the United States, and also those who are at sea and those who aresojourning in foreign lands, to set apart and observe the last Thursday ofNovember next as a day of thanksgiving and praise to our beneficent Father whodwelleth in the heavens.

VOICE ONE:

Lincoln'sproclamation began a tradition. Presidents have issued Thanksgivingproclamations every year since eighteen sixty-three. All can be found on theWeb site of the Pilgrim Hall Museum in Plymouth.

Innineteen forty-one, Franklin Roosevelt was president. Roosevelt approved aresolution by Congress. It established,by law, the fourth Thursday in November as Thanksgiving Day.

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Ourprogram was produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Faith Lapidus. Join us again next week for THIS IS AMERICA inVOA Special English.

 

Results of UN Food Summit Seen as Disappointing

Sun, 22 Nov 2009 18:48:48 -0400

This is theVOA Special English Development Report.

Lastweek, the United Nations held a World Summit on Food Security. But thethree-day meeting in Rome produced only limited measures to fight risinghunger. The U.N. World Food Program says more than a billion people -- one insix worldwide -- do not get enough food to be healthy.

Thetroubled world economy is not the only cause of recent increases. The poorestcountries continue to face high food prices, which have fallen elsewhere. The U.N.Food and Agriculture Organization says more than thirty nations continue toneed emergency food assistance.

SecretaryGeneral Ban Ki-moon said the food crisis has forced millions of families intopoverty and hunger. He said six million children die of hunger every year. Andhe warned that food security is closely connected to the issue of climatechange.

BANKI-MOON: "At a time when the global population is growing, our globalclimate is changing. By twenty fifty we will need to grow seventy percent morefood. Yet weather is becoming more extreme and unpredictable."

Thedelegates in Rome promised to continue efforts to reduce by half the number ofhungry people by two thousand fifteen. But critics pointed out that worldleaders made a similar promise more than ten years ago.

Several countriespromised to increase aid for agriculture, to help developing nations becomemore independent.

Still, criticsdeplored a lack of greater action. Leaders from more than sixty countries werein Rome. But Italian Prime Minister Silvio Berlusconi was the only leader from amajor industrial nation in the Group of Eight. An official from Kenya, AdamBarre Duale, said it showed a lack of unity in the fight against hunger.

ADAM BARREDUALE: "We need both the developed world and the developing countries tocome together and to give and support a global initiative in the war againsthunger."

The Food and Agriculture Organization says more thanforty billion dollars a year needs to be invested in agriculture to defeat worldhunger. The growing problem has affected developing countries, but alsoindustrialized nations.

Thegovernment estimates that forty-nine million people in the United States were"food insecure" last year. That means their households, at some timeduring the year, had difficulty providing enough food for all members becauseof a lack of resources. Almost fifteen percent of all households were in thatsituation. And the Agriculture Department says the numbers may be even higherthis year.

Andthat's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

 

Words and Their Stories: Ace in the Hole

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Now, Words and Their Stories, a program in Special English by the Voice of America.

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It is surprising how many expressions that Americans use every day came from the card game of poker. For example, you hear the expression, ace in the hole , used by many people who would never think of going near a poker table. An ace in the hole is an argument, plan or thing kept hidden until needed. It is used especially when it can turn failure into success.

In poker and most card games, the ace is the highest and most valuable card. It is often a winning card. In one kind of poker game, the first card to each player is given face down. A player does not show this card to the other players. The other cards are dealt face up. The players bet money each time they receive another card.

No one knows until the end of the game whose hidden card is the winner. Often, the ace in the hole wins the game.

Smart card players, especially those who play for large amounts of money, closely watch the person who deals the cards. They are watching to make sure he is dealing honestly. They want to be sure that he is not dealing off the bottom of the stack of cards. A dealer who is doing that has stacked the deck . He has fixed the cards so that he will get higher cards. He will win and you will lose.

The expression, dealing off the bottom, now means cheating in business, as well as in cards. And when someone tells you that the cards are stacked against you , he is saying you do not have a chance to succeed.

In a poker game you do not want to let your opponents know if your cards are good or bad. So having a poker face is important. A poker face never shows any emotion, never expresses either good or bad feelings. No one can learn – by looking at your face – if your cards are good or bad.

People now use poker face in everyday speech to describe someone who shows no emotion.

Someone who has a poker face usually is good at bluffing . Bluffing is trying to trick a person into believing something about you that is not true.

In poker, you bluff when you bet heavily on a poor hand. The idea is make the other players believe you have strong cards and are sure to win. If they believe you have strong cards and are sure to win. If they believe you, they are likely to drop out of the game. This means you win the money they have bet.

You can do a better job of bluffing if you hold your cards close to your vest. You hold your cards close to you so no one can see what you have. In everyday speech, holding your cards close to your vest means not letting other know what you are doing or thinking. You are keeping you plans secret.

We are not bluffing when we say we hope you have enjoyed today’s program.

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This Special English program, Words and Their Stories, was written by Marilyn Rice Christiano. This is Bob Doughty.

 

Hank Williams,1923-1953: He Wrote Songs About Love and Heartbreak

Sat, 21 Nov 2009 19:21:32 -0400

 

Obama, 'First Pacific President,' Turns to Asia

Fri, 20 Nov 2009 22:15:45 -0400

This is IN THE NEWS in VOASpecial English.

President Obama is back from his first trip to Asia sincebecoming what he called "America's first Pacific president." Thepresident, born in Hawaii, began his eight-day trip in Japan, then visitedSingapore, China and South Korea. He met with leaders on issues includingtrade, the world economy and climate change.

In Singapore, he attended this year's Asia-PacificEconomic Cooperation summit. And he chose Hawaii for the APEC meeting in twoyears.

The president spent a day in Japan. He met with the newprime minister, Yukio Hatoyama. They talked about strengthening their nations'alliance. But the prime minister campaigned on a promise of a "moreequal" relationship. For example, he wants to study a two thousand sixagreement for an American Marine air station to move to another area of Okinawa.

In South Korea, President Obama and President LeeMyung-bak discussed a free trade agreement signed by their governments twoyears ago. President Obama said he hopes to get Congress to approve it nextyear.

China is the United States' second largest tradingpartner, after Canada. And China now holds more United States government debtthan any other nation.

In Beijing, President Obama met with President HuJintao and Premier Wen Jiabao. He also spoke to university students inShanghai. Among other subjects, he talked about freedoms that Americans value.

BARACK OBAMA: "These freedoms of expression andworship, of access to information and political participation, we believe areuniversal rights. They should be available to all people."

China has the world's largest number of Internet users.But it also has what is often called the Great Firewall of China. The governmentrestricts political content and blocks some social networking and news Web sites.President Obama said he is a strong supporter of open Internet access.

His meeting with students in Shanghai was broadcastlocally. But China rejected an American request to show it live nationally.

There were no major developments, but there werepromises of closer cooperation in talks between the two presidents. They made ajoint statement to reporters, but took no questions.

Announcements included a series of measures tostrengthen cooperation on clean energy. For example, the United States andChina will jointly establish a clean energy research center. Scientists andengineers will work on technologies such as carbon capture and storage. Thatinvolves preventing industrial gases from escaping into the atmosphere wherethey can trap heat.

Also this week, environment ministers from about fortycountries met in Copenhagen. They discussed issues related to a climate change conferencethat opens December seventh in the Danish capital.

APEC leaders said Sunday that it is unrealistic to expecta full and legally enforceable agreement to be negotiated by then. Instead,they called for a temporary political agreement while continuing to negotiate areplacement for the Kyoto Protocol. That treaty ends in two thousand twelve.

And that’s IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, writtenby Brianna Blake. I'm Steve Ember.

 

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