未知的味觉

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of existing homes in the United States increased almost three percent in February. It was the first increase since last July.

But fueling that increase was a drop in prices. The S&P/Case-Shiller index of twenty major markets showed that home prices fell almost two and a half percent in January. Prices were down almost eleven percent from a year before.

And still another report this week showed that sales of new single-family houses fell in February. Sales were down almost two percent from January, to a thirteen-year low. The Commerce Department estimated there was a ten-month supply of newly built houses waiting to be sold.

Experts say prices in many markets will have to fall further before more people are willing or able to buy.

Prices went up and up in recent years, before the housing bubble burst. Many buyers now struggling to make payments took out loans that were too big. They thought prices would keep rising and they could sell their home for a nice profit.

Rising values meant that people could also take out home equity loans and lines of credit. They used their home as a cash machine by borrowing against its value.

Now, as those values fall, some people owe more than their home is worth. Many buyers, often with risky credit histories, took out adjustable-rate mortgages, which started out low but later reset to higher rates.

About two percent of all home loans are in foreclosure. Of course, that means ninety-eight percent of homes are not being reclaimed by lenders. Still, this is the highest rate since the Mortgage Bankers Association began keeping records in nineteen seventy-nine.

The weak housing market is largely responsible for an economic crisis that is leading to new government steps in the financial system.

Last week, the Federal Reserve pushed through a deal for J.P. Morgan Chase to buy Bear Stearns for two dollars a share. Bear, the nation’s fifth-largest investment bank, was near collapse after big losses on its mortgage-backed securities. To help make the deal, the Fed agreed to take responsibility for up to thirty billion dollars in those securities.

But J.P. Morgan faced a rebellion by Bear shareholders, so this week it increased its offer to ten dollars a share. It also agreed to take responsibility for one billion dollars of Bear’s hard-to-sell securities.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. I’m Steve Ember.

 

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我这个人越忙，越要找点东西来换脑筋。今天推荐个美剧，我第一次推荐美剧。
越狱3看起真有些弱智，我随便点开一个，Scholfield居然用赌博得到小麦的十字架。然后用有些狗屁不通的方法逃脱。看来编剧也有些黔驴技穷了。
来看看这部吧， 中文是天才也性感，以我的英语水平，还是有些模糊，The Big Bang Theory是如何翻译成天才也性感的。但是这不影响我们观看这部电视剧。这部电视剧还有个好处就是够短，反映一群科学研究天才的故事。不像越狱那样开起来揪心，是一个喜剧。适合从事科研工作的人看的喜剧。
其中一个不懂科学的问这帮天才们，你们搞那个有什么用？天才们回答：Because we can。精辟，只有一种从内心而发的好奇–所谓兴趣，才能让科研看起来熠熠生辉。
或者看看下面，一个物理天才发明出来的夜光鱼。够有想象力吧！

下载地址，点这里。当然，你需要下载电驴。
从这部故事我还知道了为什么这类电视剧叫做肥皂剧，soap opera，原来是早期这里电视剧会大量的插播洗衣粉和肥皂广告的缘故。当然，插播这些广告的原因是这些电视剧的手中是家庭妇女，现在呢？

无语

上生词：
schistosomiasis:血吸虫病,裂体吸虫病
suffer from:遭受……痛苦
parasitic worm:寄生的虫子
tropical climates：热带玉林气候
oxadiazoles：噁二唑
parasite：寄生虫
Illinois State University：伊利诺州大学
Genomics Center：基因组学中心

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

Scientists think they are a step closer to a new drug to treat schistosomiasis. More than two hundred million people suffer from this parasitic worm disease. Most live in developing nations in tropical climates. About ten percent of victims become seriously disabled from internal bleeding, iron loss, organ damage or other effects.

A team in the United States found that chemical compounds known as oxadiazoles can target an enzyme needed for the survival of Schistosoma. This is the group of flatworms that cause schistosomiasis.

The scientists tested oxadiazoles on laboratory mice. They found that one compound killed the parasite at every level of development – from larva to adult. The study also showed that the compound was active against all three major species of Schistosoma worms that infect humans.

The National Institutes of Health supported the research. Scientists from Illinois State University and the Chemical Genomics Center at N.I.H. reported their findings in the journal Nature Medicine.

Biology professor David Williams led the research. He says the Schistosoma parasite needs oxygen to survive. Oxygen use produces oxygen-free radicals that can destroy an organism. The worm has a protective enzyme. But Professor Williams says the experimental drug disables this enzyme, causing the worm to self-destruct.

Since the nineteen eighties, doctors in more than seventy tropical nations have used one main drug to treat schistosomiasis. Public health experts worry that the worms will become resistant to this drug, praziquantel.

Each year, two hundred eighty thousand people die of schistosomiasis, also known as bilharzia or snail fever. The microscopic worms infect snails, which in turn lay infected eggs. Humans become infected when they enter fresh water where the snails live.

The worms dig through skin to enter the body. They move into blood vessels that supply the intestinal and urinary systems. Then, if worm eggs in human waste enter fresh water, more snails and people become infected.

More studies are needed on the experimental new drug. The scientists say the results in mice were better than all the targets set by the World Health Organization for new schistosomiasis compounds. They hope the drug will be ready for testing in humans in four to five years.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Jill Moss. Transcripts, MP3s and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Steve Ember.

 

 New Drug Shows Promise Against Worm Disease [3:58m]: Play Now | Play in Popup

Some American schools pay teachers more if their students improve on tests. Now, there is a growing movement to pay the students — in some cases, even just for coming to class.

Students at one school in New Mexico can earn up to three hundred dollars a year for good attendance. A program in New York City pays up to five hundred dollars for good attendance and high test scores.

In Baltimore, Maryland, high scores on state graduation tests can be worth more than one hundred dollars. And a New Jersey school system plans to pay students fifty dollars a week to attend after-school tutoring programs.

Schools that pay students can be found in more than one-fourth of the fifty states. Other schools pay students with food or other rewards.

Robert Schaefer is public education director for the National Center for Fair and Open Testing, an activist group. He says paying may improve performance in the short term, but students develop false expectations for the future. He sees a lack of long-term planning in these programs because of pressure on schools to raise test scores.

Public schools need to show improvement under the education reform law signed by President Bush six years ago. Low-performing schools may lose their federal money; teachers and administrators may lose their jobs. Often these schools are in poor neighborhoods where getting students to go to school can be a continual problem.

Critics say paying students sends a message that money is the only valuable reward. But some students say it makes school more exciting. And some teachers have reported getting more requests for extra help.

In two thousand four, the city schools in Coshocton, Ohio, launched a program. They wanted to see if paying elementary school students as much as one hundred dollars would help in passing state exams.

Now, Eric Bettinger of Case Western Reserve University has reported mixed results. Math scores increased, but only while students were able to get paid. And there was no evidence of higher scores in reading, social studies and science. Officials will decide later this year whether to continue the program.

Yet adults get paid for their work. And if teachers can be rewarded for their students’ work, then why not the students themselves? This is what some people say. What do you think? Write to special@voanews.com, and please include your name and country.

And that’s the VOA Special English Education Report, written by Nancy Steinbach. I’m Steve Ember.

 

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