Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Mario Ritter Jr. This program is designed for English learners. So we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases as specially written for.
People learning. English. Today, John Russell has a report on the unexpected fast growth of Mount Everest.
Already the highest mountain on Earth. Bryan Lynn presents this week's technology report. We close the show with the lesson of the day from Andrew Smith and Joe Robbins. But first, Mount Everest.
Standing 8.85km above sea level, is Earth's tallest mountain, and Mount Everest is still growing. Mount Everest and the rest of the Himalayas are continuing on an upward movement that began at their birth around 50 million years ago. The mountains are a product of a collision between Eurasia and the Indian subcontinent.
But Everest is growing more than expected, and scientists now think they know the reason why escape Everest's growth has to do with the major joining or merger of two nearby river systems. The Kosi River joined with the Arun River around 89,000 years ago. The researchers estimated this change in the area's river system has led to Everest gaining around 15 to 50m in height. That suggests an upward movement rate of about 0.2
to point five millimeters per year. The geological process at work, researchers said, is called isostatic rebound. Isostatic rebound involves the rise of land masses on Earth's crust. When the weight of the surface declines, the crust, Earth's outermost part floats atop hot semi liquid rock.
In this case, the joining of the rivers resulted in increased erosion, which carried off large amounts of rock and soil. This reduced the weight of the area near Everest. Isostatic rebound can be likened to a floating object adjusting its position when weight is removed, said Jin-Gen Dai of China University of Geoscience in Beijing. Dai is one of the leaders of the study, published recently in Nature Geoscience. When a heavy load, such as ice or eroded rock is removed from the Earth's crust, the land beneath slowly rises in response, much like a boat rising in water.
When cargo is unloaded, Dai added, the research errs who used numerical models to study the development of the river system, estimated that isostatic rebound accounts for about 10% of Everest's yearly upward movement, or uplift rate. This geological process is seen in other places around the world. A classic example is in Scandinavia, where the land is still rising in response to the melting of thick ice sheets that covered the region during the last ice age. This process continues today, affecting coastlines and landscapes. Thousands of years after the ice retreated die, said study co-writer Adam Smith, a University College London doctoral student said. GPS measurements show the continued rising of Everest and the rest of the Himalayas.
This uplift is faster than the continued surface erosion caused by wind, rain and river flow. As this erosion continues, Everest's uplift rate from isostatic rebound may increase, Smith said. Neighboring mountains, including Lhotse, the world's fourth highest, and Makalu, the fifth highest, also get a boost from the same process.
Lhotse is experiencing an uplift rate similar to Everest. Makalu has a slightly higher uplift rate. Dai said that the research shows our planet's changing nature, even a seemingly unchanging element like Mount Everest is subject to ongoing geological processes.
Reminding us that Earth is constantly changing, often in ways imperceptible in our daily lives. Earth's rigid outer part is divided into large plates that move slowly over time. The Himalayas rose following a collision between two plates. Everest is located on the border between Nepal and the Tibet Autonomous Region of China.
It was named for George Everest, a 19th century British surveyor in India. Mount Everest occupies a unique place in human consciousness, di said. Physically, it represents Earth's highest point, giving it a lot of importance simply because of its size, di explained.
He added that Everest has cultural importance to local Sherpa and Tibetan communities worldwide. Dai said the mountain represents a big test for human endurance. I'm John Russell.
The administration of U.S. President Joe Biden has proposed a ban on the sale of self-drive living vehicles in the US, using Chinese or Russian technologies. The proposal was recently announced by the US Commerce Department. The ban would bar sales of internet connected and self-driving vehicles equipped with software or hardware provided by China or Russia. The purpose of the measure is to protect national security and American drivers.
The Commerce Department said in a press release called the Connectivity and Autonomous Vehicle Technologies Critical Systems that need strong protection. The department noted that providing access to such systems through software or hardware could lead some foreign governments to collect our most sensitive data and seek to control vehicles on American roads. U.S. Commerce Secretary Gina Raimondo spoke to reporters from the Associated Press.
AP and other media organizations last week about the proposal. She described a possible extreme situation in which a foreign enemy could shut down or take control of multiple vehicles operating in the US. Such an incident could cause major crashes and huge traffic problems.
Raimondo said this is not about trade or economic advantage. This is a strictly national security action, Raimondo said. She added the good news is right now we don't have many Chinese or Russian cars on our road. Raimondo said leaders in Europe and other parts of the world had raised concerns about the large number of Chinese vehicles already on the roads in their areas. Imported Chinese owned vehicle models captured 7.6% of Europe's
electric car market in 2023. The European Automobile Manufacturers Association said. That was up from 2.9% in 2020. Janka Bertel is director of the Asia Program at the European Council on Foreign Relations. She wrote on the council's website that the security concerns in Europe included matters of national security, cyber security and individual privacy. Raimondo noted the US cannot wait until the nation's roads are already populated with vehicles containing Chinese or Russian technology.
We're issuing a proposed rule to address these new national security threats before suppliers, automakers, cars and car components linked to China or Russia become commonplace and widespread in the US, she said. Commerce Department officials said the proposed ban on software would take effect with 2027 vehicle model years. A ban on hardware would take effect beginning with 2030 models. The officials said the different dates were set because software is much easier to change than physical hardware parts. The software and hardware bans would cover vehicles equipped to communicate through Bluetooth. CLIA or satellite or Wi-Fi systems.
It would also ban the sale or import of software made in Russia or China that permits self-driving vehicles to operate without a driver in control. The ban would also cover vehicles made in the US using Chinese and Russian technology. The proposed rule would be for all vehicles except those not used on public roads, such as vehicles used for agriculture or mining purposes.
American automakers have said they share the government's national security goal, but currently they say, the need for such a measure is low. That is because there is very little software and hardware technology coming to American vehicles from China and Russia. But the industry group Alliance for Automotive Innovation said the new rules will force some automakers to immediately search for new parts suppliers. You can't just flip a switch and change the world's most complex supply chain overnight, said the organization's chief, John Bozella. Bozella noted the timetables to begin the ban should be long enough for some automakers to make changes, but may be too short for others.
Administration officials told the AP that Commerce Department representatives had met with officials from all major auto companies around the world while preparing the proposals. The officials also met with different industry organizations in an effort to understand the current supply chain issues. The Commerce Department is currently taking public comments on the ban.
This process generally lasts for 30 days after a rule is published. Agency officials said the finalization of the measure should happen by the end of the Biden administration. I'm Bryan Lynn. Now, Bryan Lynn is here to talk more about his technology report. Thanks for being here, Bryan.
Of course. Ashley, thank you for having me. This week, you reported on a U.S. proposal to ban sales of self-driving vehicles that contain certain equipment built by China or Russia. Officials say the ban aims to protect U.S. national security and reduce safety risks for American drivers.
But we also learned there are currently not that many vehicles on U.S. roads equipped with technology from China or Russia. Correct? Yes, that is true. And this issue was addressed in the report. It was actually one of the auto industry's main arguments for why this kind of ban is not necessary at this point. They have said it would be better for the U.S.
to wait and see how many of these vehicles get sold in the American market. But officials at the Commerce Department do not agree. They've said now is exactly the right time to put this kind of measure in place before such vehicles are already deployed on U.S. roads. And how have China and Russia reacted to this U.S.
proposal? There hasn't been direct reaction from Russia, but China was very quick to react. Predictably, a representative from the country's commerce ministry did criticize the plan, but that criticism really didn't center on the technology aspect of the ban. But rather on an economic effect.
The Chinese spokesman said the planned move amounted to unfair competition that sought to restrict these automotive parts, with no factual basis that they could cause harm. Now the US Commerce secretary was asked about this issue and did mention in her comments that economics and competition played no part in the US proposing the ban. The report also noted that such a ban could lead to supply chain issues in the future. What can you tell us about that? Yes. So some experts did note this possibility.
The idea that some manufacturers would have to look for new suppliers to source parts that do not violate the proposed U.S. ban. Of course, this would not happen right away because these bans are not planned until 2027 for software and 2030 for hardware. But industry experts say the fact that these automakers might have to change suppliers could very well result in major supply chain issues. All right. Thanks again for being here, Bryan. Sure, Ashley.
Thank you. VOA Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Ana.
The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information, visit our website. Learning English Dot VOA News.com. Hello. My name is Ana Mateo.
My name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. You're listening to The Lesson of the day on the Learning English podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our series.
Let's learn English. This series shows Ana Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C.. We've been watching Ana learn about history in our last podcast, and she has been learning about the fun things to do in Washington, D.C.
but in today's lesson, she finds that some days are not so fun. That's when she has to call into work because she needs a sick day. This time in lesson 27 of the Let's Learn English series. Ana is not feeling well. Her boss, Miss Weaver, gives her some advice. We'll be talking more about how we give advice in this lesson.
But now let's listen. Hello. I'm sure that today in Washington, D.C., there are a lot of great things to do, but I am not doing any of them. I'm sick right now.
I'm going to call my boss and tell her I cannot come in to work. Hello, Mrs. Weaver. Hi.
I can't come to work today. Why not? What is wrong? Well, yesterday I felt fine in the morning. I painted four hours in the afternoon.
I cut wood. Then I built a fire. Ana, what do you mean? Why can't you come to work today? I do not feel well.
I think I'm sick. I'm sorry to hear that. I was sick last week too.
I had the flu. I know, what did you do? I slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. Do you have a doctor? Yes I do. You should call your doctor and get lots of rest. Thanks, Miss Weaver.
I'll call right now. Calling my doctor. I think Ana just overdid it the day before, don't you, Andrew? Yes, I do. To overdo means to have a little too much activity.
For some of us, as we get older. We have to be careful. Using too many of our muscles at one time is one way to overdo it. And the next day we may not feel well.
What advice did Miss Weaver give to Ana Jill? She said Ana should call her doctor and get lots of rest. That's good advice. When someone doesn't feel well, let's find out what her doctor says. Hello, this is Doctor Bennet. How can I help you? Hello, doctor Bennett, this is Ana.
Oh, hi, Ana. How can I help you? I think I'm sick. Let me ask you a couple of questions. Do you have a sore throat? Yes, I have a sore throat. Do you have a cough? Go. Yes, I have a cough.
When did you start feeling sick? This morning. In this part, we hear the doctor asking the usual questions. She is not giving advice yet because first she has to diagnose or identify the problem on a has. But I remember some advice I used to hear in my home growing up in the state of North Carolina, when I had a sore throat. Let me guess, was it honey and lemon? That's what my grandma used to make for me. No, it was warm tea.
My aunt made me some tea with a little lemon juice. I had to drink a lot. That's often helpful when you are feeling sick. Yes. Remember that miss Weaver said that when she was sick.
I slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. You know, when I was little, I liked eating popsicles, which is some sweet water or juice that is frozen on a stick. When I had a sore throat, it felt great. And I think my mom knew it was a good way to get me to drink more water. Yes, some of those home remedies often had a lot of wisdom behind them. One thing our listeners should note here is the different intonation we use for the two different kinds of questions we heard from Doctor Bennett when she asked a question that began with when or how her intonation was falling like this.
How can I help you? When did you start feeling sick? And when we asked questions that can be answered with yes or no, our intonation often goes up at the end. Listen to Miss Weaver and Doctor Bennett ask this type of question. Do you have a doctor? Do you have a sore throat. That could be useful for learners? The general rule is that what we call w.h questions. Questions that start with the words who, what, when, why, and how.
Those questions usually end with a falling intonation. You may sometimes hear a different intonation for this kind of question depending on the situation. And then yes no questions.
Those questions often begin with do or did, are or were. Those questions usually end with a rising intonation. Let's go back and find out what Doctor Bennett tells Ana. Do you have a fever? Oh, my thermometer says 125 degrees. What? Yeah, that's not right. Oh, wait.
The thermometer was in my hot cup of coffee. Please take it again, Ana. Okay. The thermometer says 100.5 degrees. 102.5 degrees is not too high. I want you to drink lots of water. Rest in bed and get lots of sleep.
Just think, all those years of medical school. And she gives on to the same advice that you or I might give her. And there's a funny bit in there about Ana putting her thermometer into a hot cup of coffee.
Our listeners might be surprised to hear that a high temperature is over 100 degrees, but that's using the Fahrenheit scale. That would be over 38°C. I remember hearing about international students who heard they had a 100 degree temperature here in the U.S., and they worried that they were really sick. But going back to our lesson, one more thing we heard here is irregular verbs. That starts with on a busy day. When she said.
Yesterday, I felt fine. In the afternoon I cut wood. Then I built a fire.
There. The present tense verb feel became felt in the past tense. Cut stayed the same. Cut. The verb build changed to built in the past tense.
And Miss Weaver used an irregular verb when she said. I slept a lot and I drank a lot of water. Sleep became slept and drank. Became drank.
Lots of irregular verbs. I know, and how are learners supposed to remember them all? There are so many of them and so many different ways they change. That's true, but some of them are used all the time in English, so that can make it easier to remember them. And you know what else could make it easier? We could make a little song about them. Music always helps us remember things.
Oh, boy, that's a great idea, Andrew. How about if we just take the ten most common irregular verbs and put them into a song? Okay, here we go. Say sad. Go. Went. Come came.
No new. Give gave. Become became. Find. Found. Think. Thought. See saw I think that's all.
And that's all for today's lesson of the day. And one more thing. Write to us with your questions about this lesson on our YouTube channel, or email us at Learning English at VOA News.com.
You can learn more on our website. Learning English dot VOA News.com. You can also find us on YouTube, Facebook and Instagram. And thanks for listening to the Learning English podcast. And I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith.
And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson.
And I'm Mario Ritter Jr.
2024-10-05