可可英语

可可英语 美国大学的学术头衔 Not everyone who teaches in a college or university is a professor. Many are instructors or lecturers. In fact, not even all professors are full professors. Many of them are assistant or associate professors or adjunct professors. So what do all of these different academic titles mean at American colleges and universities? Get ready for a short lecture, especially if you are thinking of a career in higher education. Professors usually need a doctoral degree. But sometimes a school will offer positions to people who have not yet received their doctorate. This person would be called an instructor until the degree has been completed. After that, the instructor could become an assistant professor. Assistant professors do not have tenure. Tenure means a permanent appointment. This goal of greater job security is harder to reach these days. Fewer teaching positions offer the chance for tenure. Teachers and researchers who are hired into positions that do offer it are said to be "on the tenure track." Assistant professor is the first job on this path. Assistant professors generally have five to seven years to gain tenure. During this time, other faculty members study the person’s work. If tenure is denied, then the assistant professor usually has a year to find another job. Candidates for tenure may feel great pressure to get research published. "Publish or perish" is the traditional saying. An assistant professor who receives tenure becomes an associate professor. An associate professor may later be appointed a full professor. Assistant, associate and full professors perform many duties. They teach classes. They advise students. And they carry out research. They also serve on committees and take part in other activities. Other faculty members are not expected to do all these jobs. They are not on a tenure track. Instead, they might be in adjunct or visiting positions. A visiting professor has a job at one school but works at another for a period of time. An adjunct professor is also a limited or part-time position, to do research or teach classes. Adjunct professors have a doctorate. Another position is that of lecturer. Lecturers teach classes, but they may or may not have a doctorate. Not everyone部分否定 英语中的部分否定(即不完全否定)有如下一些表示方法: 一、 all 的否定式:not all„(或:all„not)表示"并非都„„"、"不是所有的都„„"例如: Not all men can be masters. (= All men cannot be masters.) 并非人人都能当头头。 Not all bamboo grows tall. 并非所有的竹子都会长得很高。 二、 both 的否定式:not„both (或:both„ not) "并非两个„„都„„" 例如: I don't want both the books. 我不是两本书都要。 Both (the) windows are not open. 两扇窗子并不都开着。 三、 every„的否定式:"不是每„„都„„" 例如: Not every book is educative. (或:Every book is not educative.) 不是每本书都有教育意义的。 Not everyone likes this book. 并非人人都喜欢这本书。 This flower is not seen everywhere. 这花并不是随处可见的。 四、 always的否定式:"并非总是(并非一直)„„" 例如: He is not always so sad. 他并不是一直都这样悲伤。 五、 entirely, altogether, completely 和quite 的否定式:"不完全„„"，"并非完全„„" 例如: The businessman is never to be entirely trusted. 不可以完全信任商人。 What he did was not quite proper. 他做的不十分妥当。 1 六、 all the time 的否定式:"并非一直„„"、"未必老是„„" 例如: A foolish man doesn't make a mistake all the time. 笨人未必老是犯错误。 七、 not„and„的否定式，被否定的往往是and后面的那一部分。 例如: He did not speak clearly and correctly. 他讲得清楚但不正确。 2.They advise students. And they carry out research. They also serve on committees and take part in other activities. serve on在„任职 例句:I've been asked to serve on yet another committee, and I really don't have the time. 我被邀请担任另一个委员会的委员, 可是我确实没有时间。 take part in参加„, 参与„活动 例句:John takes part in many school activities. 约翰参加很多学校里的活动。 Joe took an active part in the struggle. 乔积极参加斗争。 3.An associate professor may later be appointed a full professor. late, later, latter, latest与 lately late adj. & adv. 迟，迟的，晚的。 She is never late for school. It was late autumn and the weather was a little cold. He came to work in a small factory in the south in the late 1990’s. 记住以下几个固定搭配: in the late afternoon 傍晚，在下午较晚的时候 in the late 1990’s / 1990s 在二十世纪九十年代末 work late /far/deep into the night 工作至深夜 late in autumn 深秋 later adj. & adv. 为late比较级，意指较迟，较晚一些。 He promised to call me later. If you work hard, your dream will come true sooner or later. 记住以下几个固定搭配: sooner or later 迟早 no later than 不迟于 later on 以后，后来 latter adj.指(两者中)“后者的”，“后者”，反义词是former“前者”。 The child will go to school in the latter part of the year. latest adj. & adv. 为late的最高级。意思是“最新”，“最近”，“最迟”。如: Have you heard of the latest news? lately adv. (=recently) “最近”，“近来”，常用于现在完成时，如: Have you met him lately? 2 许多人变老后更幸福 Old age may not sound exciting. But recent findings offer good news for older people and for people worried about getting older. Researchers found that people become happier and experience less worry after they reach the age of fifty. In fact, they say by the age of eighty-five, people are happier with their life than they were when they were eighteen years old. The findings came from a survey of more than three hundred forty thousand adults in the United States. The Gallup Organization questioned them by telephone in two thousand eight. At that time, the people were between the ages of eighteen and eighty-five. The researchers asked questions about emotions like happiness, sadness and worry. They also asked about mental or emotional stress. Arthur Stone in the Department of Psychiatry and Behavioral Science at Stony Brook University in New York led the study. His team found that levels of stress were highest among adults between the ages of twenty-two and twenty-five. The findings showed that stress levels dropped sharply after people reached their fifties. Happiness was highest among the youngest adults and those in their early seventies. The people least likely to report feeling negative emotions were those in their seventies and eighties. The study also showed that men and women have similar emotional patterns as they grow older. However, women at all ages reported more sadness, stress and worry than men. The findings appeared in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences. Researchers say they do not know why happiness increases as people get older. One theory is that, as people grow older, they grow more thankful for what they have and have better control of their emotions. They also spend less time thinking about bad experiences. Professor Stone says the emotional patterns could be linked to changes in how people see the world, or maybe even changes in brain chemistry. The researchers also considered possible influences like having young children, being unemployed or being single. But they found that influences like these did not affect the levels of happiness and well-being related to age. And that's the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Brianna Blake. Tell us what you think about the relationship between happiness and age. You can post comments on our website, Leonardo da Vinci:One of the Greatest Thinkers in History STEVE EMBER: I'm Steve Ember. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: And I'm Shirley Griffith with EXPLORATIONS in VOA Special English. Today, we tell about one of the greatest thinkers in the world, Leonardo da Vinci. He began his career as an artist. But his interest in the world around him drove him to study music, math, science, engineering and building design. Many of his ideas and inventions were centuries ahead of his time. STEVE EMBER: We start with one of Leonardo da Vinci's most famous drawings, called "Vitruvian Man." This work is a good example of his ever questioning mind, and his effort to bring together art, math and science. "Vitruvian Man" is a detailed sketch of a man's body, which is drawn at the center of a square and circle. The man's stretched arms and legs are in two positions, showing the range of his motion. His arms and legs touch the edges of the square and circle. Detail from the drawing "Vitruvian Man" SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: With this drawing Leonardo was considering the size of the human body and its relationship to geometry and the writings of the ancient Roman building designer Vitruvius. 3 Leonardo wrote this about how to develop a complete mind: "Study the science of art. Study the art of science. Develop your senses- especially learn how to see. Realize that everything connects to everything else." STEVE EMBER: Leonardo da Vinci spent his life studying and observing in order to develop a scientific understanding of the world. He wrote down his thoughts and project ideas in a series of small notebooks. He made drawings and explained them with detailed notes. In these notebooks, he would write the words backwards. Some experts say he wrote this way because he wished to be secretive about his findings. But others say he wrote this way because he was left-handed and writing backwards was easier and helped keep the ink from smearing. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: The notebooks show many very modern ideas. Leonardo designed weapons, machines, engines, robots, and many other kinds of engineering devices.? When disease spread in Milan, Leonardo designed a city that would help resist the spread of infection. He designed devices to help people climb walls, and devices to help people fly. He designed early versions of modern machines such as the tank and helicopter. Few of these designs were built during his lifetime. But they show his extraordinarily forward- thinking mind. The notebooks also contain details about his daily life. These have helped historians learn more about the personal side of this great thinker. STEVE EMBER: Very little is known about Leonardo's early life. He was born in fourteen fifty-two in the town of Vinci. His father, Ser Piero da Vinci, was a legal expert. Experts do not know for sure about his mother, Caterina. But they do know that Leonardo's parents were never married to each other. As a boy, Leonardo showed a great interest in drawing, sculpting and observing nature. However, because Leonardo was born to parents who were not married to each other, he was barred from some studies and professions. He trained as an artist after moving to Florence with his father in the fourteen sixties. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: It was an exciting time to be in Florence, one of the cultural capitals of Europe. Leonardo trained with one of the city's very successful artists, Andrea del Verrocchio. He was a painter, sculptor and gold worker. Verrocchio told his students that they needed to understand the body's bones and muscles when drawing people. Leonardo took his teacher's advice very seriously. He spent several periods of his life studying the human body by taking apart and examining dead bodies. Experts say his later drawings of the organs and systems of the human body are still unequalled to this day. STEVE EMBER: While training as an artist, Leonardo also learned about and improved on relatively new painting methods at the time. One was the use of perspective to show depth. A method called "sfumato" helped to create a cloudy effect to suggest distance. "Chiaroscuro" is a method using light and shade as a painterly effect. The artist also used oil paints instead of the traditional tempura paints used in Italy during this period. Leonardo's first known portrait "Ginevra de'Benci" SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Leonardo's first known portrait now hangs in the National Gallery in Washington, D.C. He made this painting of a young woman named Ginevra de'Benci around fourteen seventy-four. The woman has a pale face with dark hair. In the distance, Leonardo painted the Italian countryside. He soon received attention for his extraordinary artistic skills. Around fourteen seventy-five he was asked to draw an angel in Verrocchio's painting "Baptism of Christ." One story says that when Verrocchio saw Leonardo's addition to the painting, he was so amazed by his student's skill, that he said he would never paint again. (MUSIC) STEVE EMBER: Leonardo once said the following about actively using one's mental abilities: "Iron rusts from disuse, stagnant water loses its purity and in cold weather becomes frozen; even so does inaction sap the vigor of the mind." His mind was so active that he did not often finish his many projects. One religious painting he never finished was called "Adoration of the Magi". He was hired to make the painting for a religious center. The complex drawing he made to prepare for the painting is very special. It shows how carefully he planned his art works. It shows his deep knowledge of geometry, volume and depth. He drew the many people in the painting without 4 clothes so that he could make sure that their bodies would be physically correct once covered. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Around fourteen eighty-two, Leonardo moved to Milan. There, he worked for the city's ruler, Ludovico Sforza. This ruler invited Leonardo to Milan not as an artist, but as a musician. Historians say Leonardo was one of the most skillful lyre players in all of Italy. But he also continued his work as a painter. He also designed everything from festivals to weapons and a sculpture for Ludovico Sforza. STEVE EMBER: One famous work from Leonardo's Milan period is called "Virgin of the Rocks." It shows Jesus as a baby along with his mother, Mary, and John the Baptist also as a baby. They are sitting outside in an unusual environment. Leonardo used his careful observations of nature to paint many kinds of plants. In the background are a series of severe rock formations. This painting helped Leonardo make it clear to the ruler and people of Milan that he was a very inventive and skillful artist. SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Leonardo later made his famous painting "The Last Supper" for the dining room of a religious center in Milan. He combined his studies in light, math, psychology, geometry and anatomy for this special work. He designed the painting to look like it was part of the room. The painting shows a story from the Bible in which Jesus eats a meal with his followers for the last time. Jesus announces that one of them will betray him. The work received wide praise and many artists tried to copy its beauty. One modern art expert described Leonardo's "Last Supper" as the foundation of western art. Unfortunately, Leonardo experimented with a new painting method for this work. The paint has suffered extreme damage over the centuries. (MUSIC) STEVE EMBER: In addition to the portrait of Ginevra de'Benci that we talked about earlier, Leonardo also painted several other non-religious paintings of women. One painting of Cecilia Gallerani has come to be known as "Lady with an Ermine" because of the small white animal she is holding. This woman was the lover of Milan's ruler, Ludovico Sforza. However, Leonardo's most famous portrait of a woman is called the "Mona Lisa." It is now in the collection of the Louvre museum in Paris. He painted this image of Lisa Gherardini starting around fifteen-oh-three. She was the wife of a wealthy businessman from Florence named Francesco del Giocondo. It is from him that the painting takes its Italian name, "La Gioconda." SHIRLEY GRIFFITH: Lisa Gherardini is sitting down with her hands crossed in her lap. She looks directly at the painter. She seems to be smiling ever so slightly. A great deal of mystery surrounds the painting. Experts are not sure about how or why Leonardo came to paint the work. But they do know that he never gave it to the Giocondo family. He kept the painting with him for the rest of his life, during his travels through France and Italy. Leonardo da Vinci died in France in fifteen nineteen. A friend who was with him at his death said this of the great man's life: "May God Almighty grant him eternal peace. Every one laments the loss of a man, whose like Nature cannot produce a second time." 东非干旱与拉尼娜现象有关(Experts Link East Africa Drought to La Nina in the Pacific) East Africa’s drought is the worst in sixty years. Scientists say the dry conditions in the Horn of Africa are at least partly the result of an event half a world away. The event is called La Nina, which means "little girl" in Spanish. A La Nina begins when waters become cooler than normal in the eastern Pacific Ocean near the equator. Changes in wind currents can then affect weather around the world. A related event, called an El Ninos, happens when the waters become unusually warm. La Nina and El Ninos happen about every three to five years. The latest La Nina began in July of last year and ended in May. The conditions can last for up to two years. 5 Wassila Thiaw studies Africa for the Climate Prediction Center at the National Weather Service in the United States. With a La Nina, Mr. Thiaw says the easterly winds that are supposed to bring moisture into East Africa are reduced. WASSILA THIAW: "There was less moisture coming into East Africa and therefore rainfall is reduced." Starting late last year, rains that were supposed to fall over Somalia, southern Ethiopia and northern Kenya failed. That part of the Horn of Africa has a second rainy season from March through May. Mr. Thiaw says that one failed, too, but for different reasons. WASSILA THAW: "What played out here during the March-April-May season we do not think that is really La Nina. But it [is] probably mostly due to the atmospheric conditions that prevailed at that time." Mr. Thiaw says La Nina conditions might begin again by the end of this year. And if that happens, he says, then the October-through-December rainy season could again be dryer than normal. Climate researcher Simon Mason at Columbia University in New York says East Africa has been getting drier over about the last ten years. Mr. Mason says this is at least partly the result of global warming. Rising temperatures in the Indian Ocean create conditions that pull moisture away from East Africa. Claudia Ringler at the International Food Policy Research Institute also points to another issue. She said by Skype that much of the land in the drought-affected areas is not very productive even in good times. CLAUDIA RINGLER: "It will not get any better. Even if we have a bit more rainfall, the general potential for more food production is not expected to improve dramatically in the region." In the United States, the latest La Nina pushed moisture away from the south, causing severe droughts. Texas has suffered billions of dollars in agricultural losses. Changes in the winds pushed the rain toward northern states, causing floods. 科学家寻找植物健康新用途(Scientists Look At Plant Products With An Eye To New Possibilities for Health) BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. Today, we will tell about herbs and spices, and some of their many uses. (MUSIC) FAITH LAPIDUS: People have been using herbs and spices for thousands of years. Generally, herbs come from the green leaves of plants or vegetables. Spices come from other parts of plants and trees. For example, cinnamon comes from the hard outer cover of cinnamon plants. The spice ginger comes from the part of the ginger plant that grows underground. Some herbs and spices are valued for their taste. They help to sharpen the taste of many foods. Others are chosen for their smell. Still others were used traditionally for health reasons. BOB DOUGHTY: Some herbs and spices may be gaining importance in modern medicine. For example, American researchers say red pepper could help people seeking to lose weight. They say this could be especially true for people who do not usually add spices to their food. Researchers from Purdue University reported about the effects of red pepper in the journal Physiology & Behavior. They found that small changes in diet, like adding the pepper, may reduce the desire to eat. FAITH LAPIDUS: The spice used in the study was dried and ground cayenne red pepper. Cayenne is a chili pepper. Most chili peppers contain capsaicin -- a substance that makes chili peppers hot. Other studies have shown that capsaicin can reduce hunger and burn calories, the energy stored in food. Over six weeks, twenty-five people of normal weight took part in the study. Thirteen of them liked spicy food. The twelve others did not. The researchers decided how much red pepper each group would receive. One and eight tenths grams of the pepper was given to each person who liked spicy food. The others received three tenths of a gram. BOB DOUGHTY: The people who did not normally eat red pepper showed a decreased desire for food. That was especially true for fatty, salty and sweet foods. Purdue University Professor Richard Mattes said the effect may be true only for people who do not usually eat red pepper. He said the effectiveness of the pepper may be lost if spices are normally part of a person's 6 diet. He said further study needs to be done. The goal is to learn how long the effect of red peppers will last and how to extend the effectiveness. (MUSIC) FAITH LAPIDUS: The spice turmeric comes from a tropical plant common to India. Research involving turmeric is not new. Scientists have been studying its medical possibilities for many years. For example, researchers in Singapore completed one such study several years ago. The study was based on earlier evidence that turmeric has strong antioxidant and anti-inflammatory qualities. These qualities can help protect against damage to the body's tissues and other injuries. BOB DOUGHTY: The researchers said turmeric may reduce evidence of damage in the brains of patients with Alzheimer's disease. For this reason, the researchers designed a study that examined results from a mental-performance test of older Asian adults. The study involved curry, which contains turmeric. The adults were sixty to ninety-three years old. None had severe memory losses. Those who sometimes ate curry did better on the tests than individuals who rarely or never ate curry. This was also true of those who ate it often or very often. FAITH LAPIDUS: The work of the Mayo Clinic and its medical experts is world famous. In its "Health Letter" several years ago, the Mayo Clinic provided more evidence that herbs and spices can aid health. Its experts said spices could reduce salt use for people with health conditions like high blood pressure. The experts said some plant chemicals are high in antioxidants. In addition to turmeric, these include cinnamon, ginger, oregano, sage and thyme. The experts also said antioxidants like garlic, rosemary and saffron have qualities that could fight cancer. They also said limited evidence shows that cinnamon, fenugreek and turmeric may affect blood sugar levels in people with diabetes. (MUSIC) You are listening to SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. With Bob Doughty, I'm Faith Lapidus in Washington. (MUSIC) BOB DOUGHTY: Cooking meat at high temperatures in the open air is a favorite activity of many Americans. But the country's National Cancer Institute warns that this kind of meat preparation creates heterocyclic amines, also known as HCAs. Scientists say HCAs contain substances that probably can help cause cancer. These chemicals form when amino acids react with creatine, a chemical found in muscles. Meats from organs and non-meat protein sources have little or no HCA. Research on HCAs has made some people afraid to cook meat on a barbecue grill. On a grill, the meat heats over coals or a gas or open fire. But studies have found that adding spices to meat before cooking at high temperatures may reduce harmful chemicals. This can be done by preparing a marinade and placing it on the meat before cooking. Marinades usually contain spices and herbs added to vinegar, wine or oil. This liquid mixture also softens the meat. FAITH LAPIDUS: Researchers from Kansas State University experimented with marinades and meat in a study published in two thousand eight. The researchers placed some steaks in already prepared marinades. The meat then was heated for five minutes on each side at a temperature of more than two hundred degrees Celsius. The researchers also cooked steaks marinated without spices, and steaks that were not marinated. They were prepared at the same temperature as meat with the marinade mixes. The researchers compared levels of the HCAs in all the steaks. They found that the HCAs in the meat marinated in spices had decreased up to eighty- eight percent. BOB DOUGHTY: Other unwanted substances, called PAHs, can be found in some meat cooked at high temperatures. The United States Centers for Disease Control and Prevention says these chemicals probably cause cancer. PAHs form when animal fat drops onto hot coals. The fat makes flames from the coals rise, leaving the PAHs on the meat. Purdue University experts have a suggestion for preventing this. They advise people to use cooking tools that do not break the skin of the meat when turning it on the barbecue grill. And they say placing the meat in a marinade before grilling is helpful. 7 FAITH LAPIDUS: Herbs and spices are not used just to lessen unwanted chemical effects. They make food taste better. Some spices also destroy bacteria. Spices have long been used to keep food safe to eat. In the past, spices also helped to prevent the wasting away of dead bodies. Herb and spice plants grow in many countries. For example, the Molucca Islands in Indonesia are famous for producing spices like cloves, nutmeg and mace. Vanilla comes from orchid plants growing in South America and other places with warm, moist weather. BOB DOUGHTY: Spices have influenced world history. Ancient trade routes brought spices and silk to the Mediterranean Sea area beginning more than six thousand years ago. The Goth people of Europe defeated Roman forces in battle more than sixteen centuries ago. After the fighting ended, the leader of the Goths is said to have demanded five-thousand pounds of gold and three thousand pounds of pepper. In later years, Marco Polo and Christopher Columbus discovered new lands while seeking to extend trade with spice-growing areas in Asia. The Italian cities of Genoa and Venice became powerful because they were at the center of the spice trade. The trade was so important to national economies that rulers launched wars in their struggle to control spices. (MUSIC) FAITH LAPIDUS: This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS program was written by Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was June Simms. I'm Faith Lapidus. BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty. You can find transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our programs at www.kekenet.com. And you can find us on Twitter and YouTube at VOA Learning English. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America. 面孔辨认软件是否侵犯隐私Privacy Concerns Over Facial Recognition Systems Today we take another look at facial recognition systems. These can tag friends in Facebook photos or help police identify suspects in the recent riots in Britain. Kurt Roemer is chief security strategist for Citrix Systems in Fort Lauderdale, Florida. He says technology makes it easier than ever for governments to identify people. KURT ROEMER: "Governments can go through and identify, profile and target people, basically in any order. And it is very much a fine line between effective law enforcement and privacy." Kristene Unsworth researches information policy at Drexel College in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania. She says she is concerned that governments and police are increasingly using facial recognition software without clearly defined policies. KRISTENE UNSWORTH: "There is so much secrecy around this information that we don't really know how these kind of images or other sorts of personal data points are being used, how long the information is being retained. All of those kinds of things. So I guess for me it is an issue of transparency and dialogue." Questions like these are part of a larger debate about privacy and free speech. After the riots, British Prime Minister David Cameron raised the possibility of interfering with social networks. He said the question was whether it would be right to stop people from communicating "when we know they are plotting violence, disorder and criminality." China's official news agency Xinhua says the British government has "recognized that a balance needs to be struck between freedom and the monitoring of social media tools." Xinhua added, "We may wonder why western leaders, on the one hand, tend to indiscriminately accuse other nations of monitoring, but on the other take for granted their steps to monitor and control the Internet." Europe has some of the world's strongest policies on privacy rights. But Kurt Roemer says, like other western governments, they have not clearly defined their policies on new technologies. KURT ROEMER: "China calling that out really shows that we have some issues to address here from a policy perspective, in addition to technology." 8 One debate involves an action in San Francisco on August eleventh by the Bay Area Rapid Transit system. BART disabled wireless service in some of its underground stations for three hours. It says protesters were planning to use mobile devices to organize activities to disrupt train service. BART has faced protests over what activists say is police abuse by transit officers. BART says it acted to protect public safety. The American Civil Liberties Union of Northern California says the decision was in effect an effort by a government agency "to silence its critics." The Federal Communications Commission says it is collecting information about BART's actions. And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report , written by June Simms. You can find part one of our report on facial recognition systems at www.kekenet.com. I'm Steve Ember. 美国女子呼吁为非洲提供清洁水Young Actors Make Portraits Come Alive;US Woman Walks Across Africa for Clean Water FAITH LAPIDUS: And I'm Faith Lapidus. This week on our program, we hear about some teenagers in Washington who brought art to life during their summer break. And we learn about a young American who is walking to raise attention and money for clean water in Africa. (MUSIC) STEVE EMBER: America's capital city has a summer employment program for young people that includes jobs at the National Portrait Gallery. Teens get paid to dress like famous people and perform for museum visitors. (SOUND) FAITH LAPIDUS: Taylor Marsh is about to begin her performance. TAYLOR MARSH: "A dollar fifty cents, small change, but it was all I had when I decided to start my very own school. Yeah, I know, you may see me and think, what's a colored female like me know about school? You see, I was born just after the Reconstruction period." Taylor is dressed in a blue velvet suit and carrying a cane. She is playing Mary McLeod Bethune. Bethune was an American educator and civil rights leader who was born in eighteen seventy-five. That was just ten years after President Abraham Lincoln ended slavery. STEVE EMBER: Ten students took part this summer in the "Portraits Alive!" program at the National Portrait Gallery. Like most of the students, Taylor Marsh came to the program because she is interested in theater. TAYLOR MARSH: "I had no idea what this program was going to be about." Taylor was told that they would be giving tours of the museum. But the tours given by the young people require acting skills. Geri Provost Lyons leads the program. GERI PROVOST LYONS:"I look for students who are interested in the performing arts. They choose a portrait and they do research on the people that are in these portraits, and then they perform in costume a monologue which they have written." Students spend their first four weeks preparing. Then they practice in front of each other before they perform for museum visitors. FAITH LAPIDUS: Taylor Marsh was one of the few students who did not choose an entertainer or a movie star. TAYLOR MARSH:"Writing the monologue was the hardest part." Mary McLeod Bethune founded a school for black girls in nineteen hundred and four. In nineteen thirty-two she organized the National Council of Negro Women. And in nineteen thirty-six, she became an adviser to President Franklin Delano Roosevelt. TAYLOR MARSH: "It wasn't really the occupation I thought of, it was more the person in general. She was a strong woman, she had a lot of things going for her, and I wanted someone who was headstrong." STEVE EMBER: Another student, Sydney Hall, chose film actress Katharine Hepburn, who died in two thousand three. SYDNEY HALL: "I didn't know anything about Katharine Hepburn. I was just passing her portrait and I thought she looked very angelic in it, and she looked very cool." 9 Sydney -- who was born in Washington, DC, or the District of Columbia -- says the program has had an effect on her. SYDNEY HALL: "I don't spend a lot of time in museums. DC born and raised, and I've been to all the museums, but now I'm actually taking the time to learn." FAITH LAPIDUS: Rashawn Alexander says she, too, now takes time to read about the artwork in the galleries. Geri Provost Lyons says this is true of a lot of the students in the program. GERI PROVOST LYONS: "They will take time to go to different museums and learn more and want to see more." Rashawn played Selena, the Texas-born Latin singer who was murdered in nineteen ninety-five at the age of twenty-three. Rashawn says she was impressed by how Selena gave back to the community, offering a free concert to students who improved their grades. RASHAWN ALEXANDER: "I picked her because me and her have a lot in common. We both want to see kids do well in our community." (SELENA – "I Could Fall in Love") STEVE EMBER: In rural areas of Africa, millions of women and girls walk for hours every day to get water. Now, a twenty-two year old social activist in the United States is walking to raise money and awareness about the need for clean water. AMY RUSSELL: "Right now I'm on my way to Bethany, Connecticut, in the midst of a one hundred forty mile walk across the state. It started in Granby and will end in Greenwich. Next month, I'm going to California." One hundred forty miles is two hundred twenty-five kilometers. FAITH LAPIDUS: In California her plan is to walk eight hundred kilometers. Ms. Russell is getting in shape for an even longer walk -- twelve thousand kilometers across Africa. She expects that to take two years. AMY RUSSELL: "We'll be going through seven different countries: South Africa, Mozambique, Tanzania, Kenya, Ethiopia, Sudan and Egypt." Amy Russell founded the nonprofit organization Walk4Water three years ago while she was still in college. AMY RUSSELL: "If I ever wanted to tackle any of these big social causes of our day, [I realized] that I'd have to start at the root of everything. And the root of everything looks like it was poverty. Then, when I studied poverty a little more, I realized that clean water is just at the base and the root of all that. You can't really have the rest of the development process of sanitation, education, all those types of things without having the basic necessity of clean water." STEVE EMBER: That led to the idea of walking across Africa. Ms. Russell plans to start in January. She will be joined by volunteers from the United States and the African countries she will be walking through. She says the team hopes to walk for about eight hours a day and raise eight million dollars for wells, water treatment systems and other projects. They also plan other activities along the way. AMY RUSSELL: "Some of the places we're stopping at include orphanages, organizations that concentrate on sanitation, AIDS. We're also going to have a nurse with us. So, we're trying to set up some medical clinics as we go." STEVE WERNER: "I think Amy and other people like her are heroes because they not only have seen the problem, they are taking action." FAITH LAPIDUS: Steve Werner is a spokesman for the WASH Advocacy Initiative. That is another group working to expand access to safe drinking water and sanitation. STEVE WERNER: "The more people who know that this is a problem, they will demand that this become a more important issue in our foreign priorities, for companies when they are making decisions about their international philanthropy. Other significant donors will learn more about the issue when they read stories about what Amy is doing." Elisa Van Dyke knows all about walks to raise money for water projects. She has helped organize them for the past five years for Healing Hands International in Nashville, Tennessee. Those walks, and others around the United States, raise money to support the group's clean-water projects. ELISA VAN DYKE: "We have drilled close to five hundred clean water wells throughout Africa and a few in Central America. 10 So when we are able to put a well in a community that's just right outside their homes or right there in the middle of their village, girls don't have to spend a lot of their day collecting water. It can become a brief morning task or afternoon task and then they can go on to school." STEVE EMBER: Ms. Van Dyke says providing everyone with access to clean water is a goal that can be reached. The first step is raising awareness, she says, and this is why Amy Russell's upcoming walk across Africa is important. ELISA VAN DYKE: "I think what Amy is doing is huge because with the Internet, and with the communication that we have now, with her blogging, with things like Facebook and YouTube, we can show people firsthand what people experience in daily life. And so the more people that are exposed, the more people that are educated about the problem, then the more people will want to get involved." Steve Werner of the WASH Advocacy Initiative says he hopes the walk will get officials in developing countries to take more action. STEVE WERNER: "It is also a problem in the developing countries that their governments don't make water a higher priority. So as Amy is walking across Africa, I hope government leaders also realize that there is a big water problem in their countries and that their government should be making this a higher priority." FAITH LAPIDUS: Amy Russell plans to begin her walk in January in Cape Town, South Africa. People can follow her online at walking4water.org – that's walking, the number four, water, dot org. Words and Their Stories:Clothing... Have you ever considered all the English expressions that include words about clothes? Let's see if I can name a few off the cuff, or without any preparation. People wear pants to cover the lower part of their bodies. We sometimes say that people who are restless or nervous have ants in their pants. They might also fly by the seat of their pants. They use their natural sense to do something instead of their learned knowledge. Sometimes, people may get caught with their pants down. They are found doing something they should not be doing. And, in every family, one person takes control. Sometimes a wife tells her husband what to do. Then we say she wears the pants in the family. Pants usually have pockets to hold things. Money that is likely to be spent quickly can burn a hole in your pocket. Sometimes you need a belt to hold up your pants. If you have less money than usual, you may have to tighten your belt. You may have to live on less money and spend your money carefully. But once you have succeeded in budgeting your money, you will have that skill under your belt. I always praise people who can save their money and not spend too much. I really take my hat off to them. Yet, when it comes to my own money, I spend it at the drop of a hat – immediately, without waiting. And sadly, you cannot pull money out of a hat. You cannot get money by inventing or imagining it. Boots are a heavy or strong kind of shoes. People who are too big for their boots think they are more important than they really are. I dislike such people. I really do. You can bet your boots on that. Yet, truly important people are hard to replace. Rarely can you fill their shoes or replace them with someone equally effective. My father is an important person. He runs a big company. He wears a suit and tie, and a shirt with sleeves that cover his arms. Some people who do not know him well think he is too firm and severe. They think he is a real stuffed shirt. But I know that my father wears his heart on his sleeve. He shows his feelings openly. And, he knows how to keep his shirt on. He stays calm and never gets angry or too excited. Also, my father has never lost his shirt in a business deal. He is too smart to lose all or most of his money. This is because my father rolls up his sleeves and prepares to work hard. He often has a special plan or answer to a problem that he can use if he needs it. He is like a person who does magic tricks. We say he has a card up his sleeve. Eunice Kennedy Shriver,1921-2009:... 11 BOB DOUGHTY: And I'm Bob Doughty with People in America in VOA Special English. Today we tell about Eunice Kennedy Shriver. She was a member of one of the most famous families in American politics. She used her influence to make a difference in the lives of millions of people. Though she never ran for office, she spent her life energetically working to improve the lives of people with developmental problems. Eunice Shriver was best known for creating the Special Olympics, an athletic event for people with mental disabilities. Her efforts changed the way the world thinks about the mentally disabled. EUNICE SHRIVER: "You are the stars and the world is watching you. By your presence, you send a message to every village, every city, every nation. A message of hope, a message of victory. The right to play on any playing field. You have earned it. The right to study in any school. You have earned it. The right to hold a job? You have earned it. The right to be anyone's neighbor. You have earned it." FAITH LAPIDUS: That was Eunice Kennedy Shriver speaking at the nineteen eighty-seven Special Olympics games in South Bend, Indiana. She was a thin and energetic woman with a huge smile and great spirit. Ms. Shriver officially became involved in helping people with developmental problems when she became the executive vice-president of a family organization in nineteen fifty-seven. The Joseph P. Kennedy Junior Foundation was created in nineteen forty-six to honor her oldest brother, who died fighting in World War Two. Under her guidance, the foundation turned its attention to studying the causes of mental disabilities. It also sought to improve the way society treats people with such disabilities. The foundation also started centers for the study of medical ethics at Harvard University and Georgetown University. BOB DOUGHTY: Eunice Shriver and her family had a personal reason to be interested in this issue. Her older sister, Rosemary Kennedy, was born mentally retarded. As Rosemary grew older, she became increasingly difficult to live with and supervise. When she was in her twenties, her father arranged for her to have an operation on her brain to improve her mental condition. But the operation left her completely disabled. Her family later sent her to a care center where she lived until her death in two thousand five. FAITH LAPIDUS: In the past, mental disability was generally treated as a shameful and hopeless disease. Many families secretly sent their disabled children to grow up in institutions. And, there were almost no community activities, resources or jobs for the mentally disabled. They were shut away with little respect and few civil rights. Eunice Shriver changed this. She showed the world that the mentally disabled could be useful citizens enjoying rich lives. (MUSIC) BOB DOUGHTY: Eunice Mary Kennedy was born in Brookline, Massachusetts in nineteen twenty-one. She was the fifth of nine children born to the Irish Catholic family of Joseph and Rose Kennedy. Her grandfather was John Fitzgerald who served as mayor of Boston, Massachusetts and as a lawmaker. Eunice's father was a wealthy businessman with powerful connections. The Kennedys raised their children to be highly intelligent and highly competitive. FAITH LAPIDUS: Eunice Kennedy Shriver once said that her father's advice to his children was to win. He said that coming in second or third did not count, but one had to win, win, win. Mister Kennedy also told his friends that his sons would one day run for president. And, he was right. John F. Kennedy became president in nineteen sixty-one and served until his murder two years later. Robert Kennedy, a senator, ran for president in nineteen sixty-eight and was killed that same year. Edward Kennedy never won the presidency, but became a long- serving and important member of the United States Senate. BOB DOUGHTY: Eunice Shriver also carried on the family tradition of public service. She graduated in nineteen forty-three with a sociology degree from Stanford University in California. She worked for different organizations as a social worker before working for her family's foundation. Over the years, she also worked for the political campaigns of her brothers, John, Robert and Edward. In nineteen fifty-three, she married R. Sargent Shriver. They had five children: Robert, Maria, Timothy, Mark and Anthony. (MUSIC) 12 FAITH LAPIDUS: Under the administration of John F. Kennedy, Eunice Shriver continued her work for her foundation. She influenced her brother to create a committee to study developmental disabilities. This effort led to the creation of the National Institute of Child Health and Human Development at the National Institutes of Health. In nineteen sixty-two, Ms. Shriver published an important article in the Saturday Evening Post called "Hope for Retarded Children." She wrote openly about her sister Rosemary's condition. For years, this had been a closely guarded family secret. Eunice Shriver used Rosemary as an example of how not to treat people with disabilities. Instead, she said people with mental disabilities needed to be treated as useful citizens and given special education and training. She said family members of disabled people had few resources for community support or medical help. She gave examples of parents who struggled to make a better life for their disabled children. EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: "Think of the families, think of the mothers who love their children but feel so desperately alone. Their children have done nothing wrong, committed no crime and perpetuated no injustice. They are the world's most innocent victims, and they suffer only because they are different." BOB DOUGHTY: Ms. Shriver also opened a summer camp that was free of cost for mentally retarded children. The idea for it came when a mother told her that there were no summer camps where she could send her disabled child. So, Eunice Shriver did something about it. She started Camp Shriver at her home in Maryland to give disabled children a fun summer program filled with physical activities. Non-disabled children were also welcome to join the camp. She made sure there were a large number of workers to give the necessary attention to all the kids. And, she asked students from private schools to volunteer at the camp as helpers. Ms. Shriver was directly involved in all parts of the camp. She would often swim and play ball with the children. EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: "Don't keep them away from something that can change their lives and give them a new vision and give their parents a new vision of them, just because they don't want someone in the community to say, 'oh, your child is special.'" FAITH LAPIDUS: In nineteen sixty-eight, Eunice Shriver organized the first Special Olympics in Chicago, Illinois. EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: "In ancient Rome, the gladiators went into the arena with these words on their lips: let me win, but if I cannot win, let me be brave in the attempt. Today, all of you young athletes are in the arena. Many of you will win. But even more important, I know you will be brave and bring credit to your parents and to your country. Let us begin the Olympics, thank you." FAITH LAPIDUS: About one thousand competitors from twenty-six states and Canada took part in the event. They competed in running, swimming and hockey. The idea of permitting mentally disabled people to compete in sports was revolutionary at the time. Before, people with special needs were often prevented from physical activity out of concern that they would hurt themselves or be unable to compete. Ms. Shriver said that the Special Olympics proved a very important fact: that exceptional children with mental retardation can be exceptional athletes. Today, the Special Olympics has grown to include about three million athletes in more than one hundred fifty countries. EUNICE KENNEDY SHRIVER: "Let us not forget that we have miles to go to overturn the prejudice and oppression facing the world's one hundred eighty million citizens with intellectual disabilities." BOB DOUGHTY: Eunice Kennedy Shriver continued to work for the disabled in other ways. She created an organization called Community of Caring. It works to reduce teenage pregnancies and educate students about creating caring and respectful communities. Eunice Kennedy Shriver Ms. Shriver received many awards for her work. These include the French Legion of Honor and the Presidential Medal of Freedom, America's highest civilian honor. Eunice Kennedy Shriver died in August of two thousand nine after a series of strokes. Her daughter's husband, California Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger, said that she was the light of the family. And he said her pioneering work for social and scientific improvements changed the lives of millions of developmentally disabled people all over the world. 13 阿拉伯之春与欧洲抗议有何共同点What the Arab Spring, Europe Protests Have in Common Experts say political unrest in the Arab World and protests in Europe have more in common than it may seem. The "Arab Spring" pro-democracy movement began in Tunisia. Protests forced President Zine El Abidine Ben Ali to resign in January. A short time later, protests in Egypt forced out President Hosni Mubarak, another longtime Arab leader. Mary Kaldor was part of the opposition movement in Hungary during the Cold War. She is now a professor of global governance at the London School of Economics. MARY KALDOR: "People assumed that somehow the Middle East was different and that was based on assumptions that somehow Islam is different -- 'It's not like us.' And that was an assumption that underpinned the war on terror, too. And I think what's so wonderful about the Arab Spring is that it's disproving that assumption. It's showing that Arabs are just as democratic as everyone else." As the Arab Spring grew, protests also began in parts of Europe. (SOUND) In Athens, thousands protested cuts in government spending and other budget reforms. Protesters occupied Syntagma Square outside Greece's Parliament. Professor Kaldor says the anger was similar to what the Arab demonstrators felt. MARY KALDOR: "It's all about, I think, a failure of representation, a feeling that the political class is one class, 'We can't influence them, it's outrageous that they're suddenly saying that we have to pay for what the banks did.' And I think that there's a similar feeling of outrage in the Arab world. So I think there are very many similarities between what's happening in Europe and what's happening in the Arab world." In Spain, protesters occupied the Puerta del Sol square in central Madrid, copying the earlier protests in Cairo's Tahrir Square. In London, British protesters demonstrated earlier this year against their government's cost-cutting measures. Owen Tudor is international secretary for the Trades Union Congress in Britain. OWEN TUDOR: "I think there are clear differences for what's going on in different countries. We're talking about democracies in Europe, dictatorships across much of North Africa. But many of the causes of what's happened have been very similar. It's about the economic crisis." Israel recently had some of its largest demonstrations ever. Israelis have criticized housing costs, wages, taxes and rising prices for food and fuel. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu is promising economic reforms but has failed to satisfy social activists. Some observers see the Arab Spring coming to a halt in Libya and Syria. But Professor Kaldor says the protests have already changed the Arab world. MARY KALDOR: "Nineteen eighty-nine brought an end to the Cold War. I think what twenty-eleven did was to sideline the war on terror. It marginalized al-Qaida. Osama bin Laden may have been physically killed in Pakistan, but he's been politically killed by the demonstrations in the Middle East." The protests in the Arab world might never have amounted to much without the use of social media to help organize protests. (SOUND) The Pearl Roundabout traffic circle in Manama became Bahrain's own version of Tahrir Square. Protesters, mostly Shi'ite Muslims, set up camp and demanded reforms. Bahrain's minority Sunni government, with military help from neighboring nations, violently suppressed the uprising. ASSOCIATED PRESS A crowd in Bahrain shouts anti-government statements at a funeral in April. Today, many Bahrainis say they are afraid to use social media. Abdulnabi Alekry is chairman of the Bahrain Transparency Society. He says the government's use of social media to help identify opponents has pushed the country's Sunnis and Shi'ites farther apart. 14 ABDULNABI ALEKRY: "It is causing a lot of damage to the national unity and it is causing even suspicion between people who work together or live together or are in the same society or club. It is a source of concern." Al-Jazeera television recently showed how a Facebook page helped lead officials to a twenty-year-old Shi'ite woman. Visitors to the page were asked to identify her "and let the government take care of the rest." She was reportedly arrested and tortured. Bahrain is not the only country said to be using social media to find government opponents. Syrian security forces have also been accused of using sites like Facebook and Twitter to identify activists. 德法寻求成立欧洲经济政府Germany,France Seek 'True European Economic Government' Eleven countries first began to use the euro in nineteen ninety-nine. Today seventeen of the twenty-seven members of the European Union are in the euro area. The euro's foreign exchange value has remained strong against the dollar and other currencies. But economic growth in the euro area was only two-tenths of one percent from April to June. Europe's biggest economy, Germany, grew at half that rate. Ireland, Portugal and Greece have all required rescues. Greece received emergency loans twice. Debt and other problems in southern Europe remain a big concern. Last week, the European Central Bank bought more than thirty billion dollars in Italian and Spanish debt securities. Italy and Spain have yet to recover from the worldwide recession. The purchases of their government debt helped reduce their borrowing costs, but the bank will probably have to act again. On Tuesday German Chancellor Angela Merkel and French President Nicolas Sarkozy met in Paris. They discussed economic governance for the euro area and cooperation on budget and tax policies. Chancellor Merkel said, "We want France and Germany to move closer in terms of fiscal integration." President Sarkozy agreed that the two neighbors must move closer on budget issues. Their proposal calls for a "true European economic government." It would include the leaders of the seventeen euro countries and would be led by the European Union president. The current president is Herman Van Rompuy of Belgium. The group would meet at least twice a year. One goal would be to control budget deficits for euro area countries. Rules limit the deficits of EU members to three percent of the size of their economies. But many members, including France, have bigger deficits than that. The two leaders also proposed a tax on financial dealings in Europe. But they did not support the idea of euro bonds. These would be loans guaranteed by all euro countries instead of only the governments seeking them. The European Commission says it supports the French and German proposals. The commission proposes and enforces legislation for the EU. On Wednesday, EU spokesman Olivier Bailly said the calls for an economic government were a step in the right direction. OLIVIER BAILLY: "We already mentioned the need to strengthen the economic part of the economic and monetary union. What is happening now since the beginning of the crisis and what has been announced yesterday as a proposal by France and Germany go exactly in this direction." But many experts question whether European countries will be willing to surrender individual powers and deal with their debt problems together. 里兰州为孩子开设艺术项目Science on View and Not at the Museum of Natural History in Washington I'm Doug Johnson. This week on our show, we play new music from Gillian Welch... and we answer a question about a popular place to visit in Washington, DC... But, first, we go to a place in Maryland where children get "artsy" every Tuesday. Porch Art DOUG JOHNSON: Every week, children gather at a home in the Remington neighborhood of Baltimore, Maryland. The 15 house belongs to Beth Barbush, an artist and local community activist. The children will spend about ninety minutes there doing art projects under her guidance. The weekly "Porch Art" meeting is one of the largest and longest running art programs in this historic but sometimes dangerous area. Christopher Cruise has our story. CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Beth Barbush started "Porch Art" four years ago. She gathered a few art supplies from her home and several neighborhood children who had little to do in the summer. And she provided her own high energy. BETH BARBUSH: "I started by doing it one night a week, an hour and a half a week, just hanging out with kids and it really benefited me because I got know the people here and I think it benefited them because it gave them something to do." A Porch Art participant The meetings soon moved from Barbush's porch to the public sidewalk a few meters away. The boys and girls explore a new art form every week. This day, the project is print calligraphy but the children are also drawing, painting and sculpting. Middle school student Toha Mohamed enjoys the program. TOHA MOHAMED: "Every week we do something cool and interesting that I wanted to do. Like arts and craft; we get to put things together, glue stuff." Other artists and local volunteers help teach the children at "Porch Art." Many parents also take part. Mother Catherine Bear says the program is about community building and trust. CATHERINE BEAR: "My child gets to do things, do something one day out of the week, like she don't do any other day and she gets to spend time with other kids and do art." (NATURAL SOUND – GUITAR MUSIC) The "Porch Art" event on this day is also the start of a music series. Local musicians volunteer to play instruments while the children do their art. Volunteer Jason Reed says the program makes a difference in the neighborhood. JASON REED: "Having a bunch of houses crammed together, really close, doesn't make a community and it's things like this that do. I am not going to say that it reduces crime or it saves lives but none of these people would steal from each other, none of these people would hurt each other, so there is a sense of caring and responsibility and I don't think that can't be underestimated." Donors provide the art supplies. Sometimes volunteers provide them. No major groups provide money for the program. And Beth Barbush suggests that outside financial support is not necessary. BETH BARBUSH: "Anyone can do this. You can do it with whatever skills you have. If you want to do it with music, cooking if you want to do it with theater or art or gardening. I just feel like it's an example for others to be able to see that they can start a program like this." The artist says "Porch Art" has changed her life. This is the first time she has known all her neighbors by name and the only time she has truly felt part of a community. Museum of Natural History DOUG JOHNSON: Our question this week comes from Kogi state in Nigeria. Abubakar Yakubu asks about the Smithsonian Institution's Natural History Museum in Washington. Let us go there now. (NATURAL SOUND) This is the central room on the first floor of the Natural History Museum. The first thing you see when you enter is a huge African elephant. The animal was fifty years old and weighed eight tons when it was shot and killed in nineteen fifty-five. The hunter then donated the remains to the Smithsonian. Workers used its bones and skin to rebuild the elephant. Now it is a symbol of the Natural History Museum. Caty Weaver A large fossil in a research room at the Museum of Natural History Around this big circular room are doors leading to the extensive collections in the building. There is a dinosaur room, a mammal room, a gems and mineral room, an ocean room and others. It would take days to really see everything here. But as 16 museum press officer Kelly Carnes explains there is more than meets the eye. The museum is a living, breathing research center. KELLY CARNES: "We have more than a hundred and twenty-six million objects. Less than one percent of those are on display at any given time. One of the interesting things about the museum that people don't always know right away is that in addition to having objects on display out in the exhibits, we also have researchers actively doing science behind the scenes. So when you're looking at exhibits, behind those big displays, are labs, offices, collections, where people are answering questions about our natural world and the science of our universe." Caty Weaver Fossil preparer Dave Lopez can talk to museum visitors as he works in the Fossil Lab Sometimes the scientists are also seen. Visitors to the dinosaur room can see a working laboratory. Behind the glass, fossil preparer David Lopez, is hard at work. A small electronic machine in his hand is working the surface of a fossil. A crowd has gathered to watch. DAVID LOPEZ: "OK, I'm working on a rock that contains fossil bones of a small dinosaur called syntarsus. It's looking like it's part of the neck area of the animal and I'm exposing some of the bones from the vertebrae. They're very, very small; very narrow." Researchers believe this syntarsus lived about seventy million years ago. It is a shock to look at that little animal and then enter the room where a huge diplodocus stands. This creature is many meters long and tall. It lived about one hundred fifty million years ago. The diplodocus has been part of the Smithsonian's collection for more than a century. It has stood in the same place since the museum opened in nineteen-ten. Caty Weaver There are live specimens at the museum too, like this Goliath birdeater tarantula spider Kelly Carnes says about one hundred PhD level scientists work at the museum. There are also many other researchers and volunteers. And there are many other Natural History Museum scientists collecting information around the world. We wonder if there are any like Indiana Jones, the fearless archaeologist of movie fame. KELLY CARNES: "One of our favorites is in our anthropology department Doctor Jane Walsh studies South American archaeology including crystal skulls that became very popular when the last Indiana Jones film came out which was about crystal skulls. A lot of the media that we spoke with at the time informally dubbed her Indiana Jane." Ms. Carnes says the Natural History Museum is working hard to reach more people more of the time. She says the expansion of resources through the Internet is a continuing project. KELLY CARNES: "We get six million visitors a year here at the museum but we realize a lot of people can't physically come to Washington, D.C. and come to the museum. So we love to make a lot of resources on line so people can visit them from wherever they are." One is the Ocean Portal, where people can find out about the ocean and its life. KELLY CARNES: "One of the unique things about the Ocean Portal is that it's actually a cooperative between several different organizations. So we get support from like-minded organizations like NOAA or National Geographic that are also sharing their information with us and allowing us all to be one source of information together about ocean science on our planet." The millions of people who do come to Washington and visit the museum, in reality, all seem glad for it. Like Xavier Nunez, a sixth grader from New Jersey. We talked to him as he left the dinosaur collection. XAVIER NUNEZ: "I saw a tyrannosaurus and triceratops. And I also saw a lot of ancient fossils from the seas. I thought it was very interesting to see where they came from and how they went extinct and also how they moved around and looked." Gillian Welch "The Harrow and the Harvest" DOUG JOHNSON: Singer and songwriter Gillian Welch is known for her striking and often dark songs. They sound like they came from a time long ago. Traditional American folk and bluegrass music have strongly influenced her work. Recently, 17 Gillian Welch and her partner, guitarist David Rawlings, released a new album. Katherine Cole plays us three songs from "The Harrow and the Harvest." (MUSIC) KATHERINE COLE: That was the song "Scarlet Town" from Gillian Welch's new album "The Harrow and the Harvest." It has been eight years since a collection of her songs was released. She and David Rawlings have said they wrote songs during these years, but doing so was not easy. They say there was little connecting the songs to anything else to form a record. The two kept busy performing with other musicians, including Bright Eyes, Nora Jones and The Decemberists. They also recorded an album and performed under a new name, "The Dave Rawlings Machine." Here is the song "The Way It Will Be." Their voices combine so well it is hard to tell where one voice ends and the other begins. Gillian Welch and David Rawlings are performing their new music at shows in the United States this month and next. We leave you with "Six White Horses." 18