A Visit to Thailand.mp3 Voice 1 Hello. I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand no matter where in the world they live. Voice 2 ‘It was hot! For people who had just flown from England, it was very, very hot!’ Voice 1 Joy Smith is one of Spotlight’s writers. She went with her husband to visit friends in Thailand. Joy has had a wonderful time in Thailand. She enjoyed finding out about another country and culture. She wrote to us about her experiences. And she wanted to share them with Spotlight listeners. Here are her words. Voice 2 When we left London, the temperature was fifteen [15] degrees centigrade. When we landed in Chiang Mai, in Thailand, it was thirty [30] degrees centigrade. It was a big change. During our stay, it got even hotter. One day the temperature reached forty [40] degrees! It never, ever, gets that hot in England! We discovered many things in Thailand that are different from England. But that is what makes travel so much fun! Unusual food is one of the best things to discover! We especially enjoyed eating strange new fruits. They all tasted so good! But probably the biggest change to our usual diet was the rice, lots of rice! We eat rice in England, but not with every meal! In England, it is more common to eat a vegetable, potato, with the main meal of the day. But we enjoyed the many different kinds of rice in Thailand. And we loved the tasty meat and fish we ate with it. We visited the north and south of Thailand during our stay. But first, we spent several days in the city of Chiang Mai. Chiang Mai is more than seven hundred [700] years old. The ancient part of the city is in the shape of a square with very high, strong walls around it. There is a huge gate in each side of the square. All around the walls is a moat full of water. In ancient times the walls and the water provided security for the city. These days, the walls are not complete. There are many roads that cross the bridges into this old part of the city. Our friends, David and Jenny, are British. They have lived in Chiang Mai for five years. We wanted to see what it is like for them to live in a country so different from their own. Early one morning we went to see a large school where David taught English for a while. Two and a half thousand [2500] children attend the school. Every morning they gather out of doors for the flag raising ceremony. Some of the children play instruments while everyone listens to the Thai national song. The children are very well behaved. The school has its own small temple. The monks in their bright yellow clothes help to teach the children about Buddhism. We also visited a large and beautiful temple in the city. We took off our shoes to go inside. We watched people offer gifts and prayers. It is the custom in Thailand to take off your shoes when you go inside a building. It shows respect for the person who has cleaned the house. But it was another strange thing for us to do. In England we usually need to keep our shoes on, to keep our feet warm! But there was no danger of getting cold feet in Thailand. It was easy for us to follow the custom. Our trip to the south took us to Phuket. We visited two sea gypsy villages. Many years ago the sea gypsies travelled in boats up and down the coast. They earned money by selling the fish they caught. These days, they are settled in villages on the coast. But they still live by catching and selling fish. Many of their houses were destroyed or damaged when the tsunami hit Phuket. Even worse, their boats were destroyed. If they could not fish, they could not earn any money. Without money, they could not repair their houses. Our friend David works for a Christian company in Thailand. They sent people to Phuket to see what they could do for the sea gypsies. The government was helping - but it was such a big job! David knew we would want to help too. The members of our church in England collected a large amount of money. We sent it to David. He used it to repair houses and boats. It was great to see all the new houses for ourselves. We met some of the sea gypsies and worshipped God with them in their church. We were even there to help push a new boat into the water for the first time! After two days we flew back to Chiang Mai. There were still many things we wanted to do before we returned to England. One thing we could not miss was the chance to ride on an elephant. These huge animals are very useful. They can do heavy work that no human could do. They are also very intelligent. They can learn to do many things - even how to paint a picture! We watched an elephant paint a picture of a tree with brown branches, green leaves and red flowers! It was very surprising! Riding an elephant was another new experience for us. A young man sat on the huge head of each animal and directed where it should go. We sat on a seat on the back of the elephant. We crossed a deep, fast flowing river and travelled through the forest. It was great fun! Each area of Thailand has something special to see. In the north there are mountains, forests and many ancient buildings. We enjoyed driving through the beautiful countryside to the Golden Triangle. This is where you can see the countries of Burma, Laos and Thailand all at the same time. The Mekong River separates the countries from each other. The north of Thailand is also where the hill tribes live. Their way of life has not changed very much for hundreds of years. The men fish in the rivers and grow rice. The women weave cloth and make beautiful things to sell. We travelled in a fast, narrow boat to visit them. The river was full of large rocks. The boatman very skilfully avoided the rocks. It was another new, fun experience for us. We left Thailand with many pictures and happy memories. The gentle, smiling people had made us very welcome. We are hoping that, one day, we will be able to go there again. Voice 1 The writer of today’s programme was Joy Smith. The producer was Elizabeth Lickiss. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom. Computer users can hear our programmes, read our scripts and see our word book at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called ‘A Visit to Thailand’. Thank you for joining us in today’s programme. Goodbye. Alison Lapper.mp3 Voice 1 Hello. I’m Elizabeth Lickiss. Voice 2 And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live. Voice 3 ‘Why shouldn’t my body be art?’ Voice 1 Alison Lapper asked this question. Alison’s body does not fit into the world’s idea of what is ‘normal’. People have asked - ‘why should she consider her body to be art?’ Alison says. ‘Why not?’ Alison’s body looks different to other people’s. And this is exactly why artist Marc Quinn wanted to make a statue of her. Voice 2 Marc made a statue of Alison’s body with white marble stone. It now stands in a very important place in London. It is in the fourth corner of Trafalgar Square. The other three corners have permanent statues. But the fourth corner has its statue changed every year or two. In September 2005, Marc Quinn’s statue was placed in the fourth corner. The statue is called, ‘Alison Lapper Pregnant.’ So who is Alison Lapper? And what is her story? Voice 1 Alison was born in April 1965. When Alison was born, doctors quickly took her from her mother. They hurried around. Her mother wondered what was happening. Where was the baby? Then, a cleaner said, ‘Can you hear all that noise? A baby’s just been born. She has no arms or legs. It is a horrible looking thing. The doctors say she will probably die in a day or two.’ Voice 2 Alison’s mother did not know then that they were talking about her baby. She spoke to her doctor. He told her that it would be best if the state looked after her baby. She should get on with her life. Later, Alison said, Voice 3 ‘And so there I was. Alison Lapper - aged one week. I had no arms. My legs had no knees, just the thighbone ending in my feet. They were not quite right either. My condition was phocomelia. The Internet Medical Dictionary describes it as, “A birth defect, where the hands and feet are attached to abbreviated (shortened) arms and legs.” No one knew the cause of phocomelia. I was considered, "severely disabled." I really hate that term.’ Voice 1 Alison spent her childhood in a children’s home. There were about two hundred and fifty [250] children there. Some had mental difficulties. Others had physical problems. Alison spent many unhappy years in the children’s home. Some of the workers treated the children very badly - causing them mental and physical pain. Voice 2 When Alison was eleven years old, her life improved. She moved to a different part of the children’s home. Here, the children were in small groups. Each group had a woman who acted as the children’s mother. They wanted to make it more of a family atmosphere. But Alison said, Voice 3 ‘These days, the children’s home is a friendlier place. The children are well cared for. However, for us it was too little too late.’ Voice 2 Alison left the home at the age of sixteen [16]. She moved to a training centre for young people. Here, she learned the necessary skills to live alone. And, at the age of nineteen [19] she moved to a home of her own in London. She said, Voice 3 ‘I became a carefree person. I enjoyed the discoveries of each new day. It was as if I had been set free from prison’. Voice 2 Alison continued with her art education. She was clearly skilled and gifted. At Art College she enjoyed painting life-size pictures. One day, one of her art teachers looked at her work. She commented, Voice 4 ‘I think you paint all these pictures of beautiful people because you do not want to deal with how you look - who you really are.’ Voice 1 At first, Alison was shocked and hurt. But then she began to think about her teacher’s words. She said, Voice 3 ‘It was true. I had never really looked deeply at who I was. Maybe she had made me see something that was very important.’ Voice 2 Alison remembers looking through some art books one day. One of the books fell open at a picture of the ancient Greek statue, Venus de Milo. The female statue is made from white marble stone. The woman has both arms missing. Alison began to look at her own body. She began to think about how she, and others, felt about her. Voice 1 For the first time, Alison made images of herself. She sat in her art room and examined the images. She said, Voice 3 ‘I thought, “Yes you are different. But you are not that different. You look pretty good here girl.”’ Voice 2 Alison left university in 1993. She used the money from her art to buy a house. Life was good. Two big events then changed her life again. Voice 1 The first event was an art gallery asked to show her work. Voice 2 The second big event was that Alison became pregnant. Her pictures included images of her body, without clothes. She hoped the pictures would help able-bodied people to accept the way she looked. She said, Voice 3 ‘I wanted people to maybe experience the idea that disability could be artistic - and even beautiful.’ Voice 1 Artist Marc Quinn seemed to share Alison’s hopes. He contacted Alison in 1999. He wanted to make a sculpture, a kind of statue, of her body. Alison laughed. She told him that she was nearly seven months pregnant. ‘That is even better,’ he said. So Alison agreed. Voice 2 Marc Quinn’s sculpture of Alison is four point seven [4.7] metres high. It stands near to the statue of Nelson on his column in Trafalgar Square. Nelson is a hero because he won victory over the outside world. Some people say that Alison is also a hero. Her statue represents winning victory over your own situations. Alison has proved many critics wrong. She is a successful artist. And she is a successful mother. Her child is healthy and happy. One writer says that the statue represents overcoming the judgments of other people. Voice 1 This strong message leads some people to say that the statue of Alison is not art. It is just a statue with a message. Alison disagrees. She says, Voice 3 ‘Anything that we are not at ease with, we avoid. But now I am up there - almost five metres high. You cannot avoid me any more. Why shouldn’t my body be art if Naomi Campbell’s is? People want things to be boring and safe. That is why the statue is causing debate.’ Voice 2 Whatever people say, Alison is pleased that they are saying something! The statue of Alison may make people question their own ideas about normality, art and beauty. But if it does, in Alison’s eyes, that is progress. Voice 1 The writer and producer of today’s programme was Marina Santee. The voices you heard were from the United Kingdom, the United States and Canada. Computer users can hear our programmes on our website at www.radio.english.net. This programme is called, ‘Alison Lapper.’ Thank you for joining us today. Good-bye Aid Group.mp3 This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Development Report. Each year more than two million people die from diseases caused by drinking dirty water. That is the estimate of the World Health Organization. Dirty water is a leading killer in developing countries. Most of the victims are children. Diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and infectious hepatitis are all spread through unclean water by bacteria or viruses. Malaria, river blindness and dengue fever are spread by insects that lay their eggs in drinking water or live around water resources. There are systems designed to make dirty water safe to drink. A group called Potters for Peace has developed a low-cost system for use by families. Potters for Peace is a non-governmental organization based in the United States and active in Central America. The system this group developed is called the Ceramic Water Purifier. The purifier is a round container with a filter inside made of porous clay. Clay is hard earth. A process called firing strengthens it with intense heat. Porous means it still lets water flow through. But the clay acts as a filter. It traps harmful organisms. Also, the clay filter is painted with a substance called colloidal silver. Colloidal silver kills bacteria. It is used in water purification systems in many aircraft. The purifier sits inside a larger container that catches and stores water as it flows through the filter. This larger container also protects the purifier from damage. The filter is supposed to be cleaned about once a month to make sure water is still able to flow through. Potters for Peace suggests that users replace the filter after a year. Ceramic water purifiers are being used in developing countries around the world. They first became popular in Ecuador and Guatemala. Today they are being used throughout Central and South America, and in parts of Africa and Asia. Ceramic water purifiers can help communities meet their water needs. But Potters for Peace says they can also help communities earn money. With a little training, local artists can produce and sell the containers that hold the purifier. You can find out more about the Ceramic Water Purifier at the Potters for Peace Web site. That address is wwww.potpaz.org. Again, potpaz.org. This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. This is Steve Ember. Hôm nay mùng 8 tháng 3, Chị em phụ nữ đi ra đi vào. Hai tay cầm củ su hào, Mồm thì lẩm bẩm: nên xào hay kho. Lớp trưởng thì nói rất to: Su hào để luộc, chứ kho làm gì. Bí Thư thì khóc tỷ ti: Su hào mà luộc còn chi là hào. Lớp phó thì bảo nên xào. Thủ quỹ lại bảo: đừng xào, nên kho. Thế rồi chúng cãi nhau to. Rồi đi quyết định chẳng xào, chẳng kho Cuối cùng quyết định: nửa kho nửa xào . around the world. They first became popular in Ecuador and Guatemala. Today they are being used throughout Central and South America, and in parts of Africa. victims are children. Diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and infectious hepatitis are all spread through unclean water by bacteria or viruses. Malaria, river