20230314 VOA Learning English Broadcast
welcome to learning English a daily 30-minute program from The Voice of America I'm Ashley Thompson and I'm Dan Novak this program is designed for English Learners so we speak a little slower and we use words and phrases especially written for people learning English [Music] today on the program we have a report on the big winners at Sunday night's Academy Awards or Oscars ceremony later Mario Ritter Jr presents this week's health and lifestyle report we close the show with the next part of our U.S history series but first everything everywhere all at once one the best picture Oscar at the academy awards ceremony Sunday night in Los Angeles California the unusual movie about a chinese-american immigrant family won seven Oscars including three acting awards for Michelle yo kai Hui Kwan and Jamie Lee Curtis the malaysian-born yo became the first Asian woman to win a Best Actress Oscar in the film she plays the laundromat owner with superpowers in a different universe for all the little boys and girls who look like me watching tonight this is a Beacon of Hope and possibilities the 60 year old actress said and ladies don't let anybody ever tell you you're past your Prime yo added as a boy Kwan starred in the 1984 Indiana Jones movie and The Goonies in 1985. the 51 year old said he quit acting for many years because he saw too few opportunities for Asian actors on Sunday night Quan won the best supporting actor Oscar in the film he plays Yo's husband Juan who was born in Vietnam cried as he gave his speech Sunday he said my journey started on a boat I spent a year in a refugee camp somehow I ended up here on Hollywood's biggest stage they say stories like this only happen in the movies he added I cannot believe it's happening to me this is the American dream the 64 year old Curtis won best supporting actress for her role as the tax agent in everything everywhere all at once in Her speech Curtis looked upward and addressed her parents Academy Award nominees Tony Curtis and Janet Lee both of her parents have passed away I just won an Oscar Curtis told them Daniel Kwan and Daniel sheinert together one best director and best original screenplay everything everywhere all at once was made with a small 14.3 million dollar budget and has brought in more than 100 million dollars so far the fourth acting award went to Brendan Fraser who won best actor for his work in the whale in the film he plays an extremely overweight man trying to reconnect with his daughter a German remake of the world war one story All Quiet on the Western Front was named best International feature film the movie which streamed on Netflix shows the horrors of War Through The Eyes of a Young Man the movie also won Oscars for music production design and cinematography director Edward Berger thanked the film's young star Felix camera who joined him on stage this was your first movie and you carried us on your shoulders as if it was nothing Berger said navalny won the Oscar for best feature documentary the movie is about Russian opposition leader Alexi navalny who was nearly killed by poison and has been jailed since his 2021 returned to Moscow Alexi I am dreaming of the day when you will be free and our country will be free his wife Yulia navalnaya said at the award presentation stay strong my love not to not to the song from the Indian movie RR that created a viral dance earned an Oscar for best original song thank you the recent kidnapping of four Americans in Mexico brought attention to a common practice for many people in the United States medical tourism medical tourism is traveling to other countries to receive medical care that is not available or too costly at home the four Americans were caught in a shootout between criminal drug organizations two were killed and two were held in a remote area of Mexico a family member said the four were on a trip from the U.S so that one of them could get cosmetic surgery from a doctor in Matamoros experts say people leave the U.S to get many medical procedures these include cosmetic surgery Dental Care cancer treatments and buying medicines Lydia again is an economist at the University of North Carolina at Pembroke she said medical tourism has been growing in popularity for years this kind of travel is popular with people who have no health insurance or health plans that require them to pay thousands of dollars in additional costs sometimes companies send people covered by their insurance to other countries for medical procedures like hip or knee replacements some companies also send people to Mexico for less costly medicines Jonathan edelheit is head of the medical tourism Association an industry trade group he told the Associated Press that medical care costs in countries like Mexico can be more than 50 percent lower than in the U.S also
cosmetic surgeries that cost thousands of dollars are largely not covered by U.S health insurers patients sometimes travel because they can get Quick Care outside the U.S they also might want to seek treatment from a doctor who speaks their language or comes from the same culture medical tourism magazine the trade group's publication said over 37 billion dollars was spent on medical tourism in 2019 around the world besides Mexico the publication said the top five countries for medical tourism are Canada Singapore Japan Spain and Britain other places include Dubai Costa Rica Israel Abu Dhabi and India in 2019 the city-state of Singapore received more than 500 000 foreign visitors for its less costly and high quality Health Care for example heart bypass surgery could cost 140 000 and the U.S compared to twenty five thousand dollars in Singapore in Spain the average cost of cosmetic surgery such as a facelift could be five thousand dollars instead of fifteen thousand dollars in the US the U.S Centers for Disease Control and prevention or CDC says millions of people from the US travel to other countries for care each year researcher Arturo Bustamante estimates that four hundred thousand people traveled from the U.S to Mexico each year for care before covid-19 appeared the University of California Los Angeles Health policy professor said most of the people visiting Mexico for care are Mexican or Latino immigrants living in the U.S
he said non-latino patients mainly cross the border to get treatment for their teeth by prescription drugs or to receive cosmetic surgery or some Cancer Treatments not covered in the U.S however the CDC warns medical tourism could be risky depending on the country and the medical center among the risks the health agency says are infectious diseases quality of care language difficulties and follow-up care to reduce risks the CDC advises people to work with the health care provider or Travel Medicine provider before making the trip Lydia again of North Carolina noted that care providers often have someone pick patients up at the airport and take them to the Health Center or hotel the CDC says patients should research Health Care Providers and health centers edelheit of the American tourism Association added that patients should research Care Quality before considering prices they really need to make sure they are going with the best of the best he said once patients choose a country and provider the CDC advises to bring medical records and to inform medical workers of any health problems after a procedure the agency says to get copies of all new medical records and to plan for follow-up care the risk for patients may not end after a procedure if someone has medical problems after returning home it may be hard for their doctor to learn the details about the care received during a trip I'm Mario Ritter Jr you just heard this week's health and lifestyle report presented by Mario Ritter Jr Mario joins me now to talk more about the story hi Mario hi Ashley it's a pleasure to be here our listeners probably understand tourism to be travel for fun to interesting and new places so how is it that the term medical tourism came about that's a really good question Ashley we usually think of Tourism as Recreation and medical operations or anything but Recreation but for people writing about the practice tourism means travel not necessarily fun so traveling for a medical operation or treatment came to be called medical tourism following up on that idea the medical tourism Association warns there are a lot of things that people should watch out for if they get involved in traveling to other countries to get Medical Treatments especially forms of cosmetic surgery those are operations meant to improve one's appearance and are not for medical problems yes Ashley the CDC warns that infectious diseases the quality of the medical care and possible misunderstandings caused by language differences can be real problems a lot of people travel for Medical Treatments to save money but there are longer term issues including follow-up care that might influence the true cost over time well that's all the time we have for today but thank you so much for sharing your thoughts with us today Mario you're welcome Ashley it's always nice to be on your show [Music] welcome to the making of a Nation American history in VOA Special English there was one main issue and America's presidential election of 1916. that issue was war Europe was in the middle of what is now remembered as World War One it was the bloodiest conflict the world has ever known most Americans wanted no part of the struggle in Europe they supported their country's official position neutrality this desire was the main reason President Woodrow Wilson won re-election people gave Wilson their votes because they hoped he would continue to keep America out of the war Larry West and Morris Joyce tell more about the presidency of Woodrow Wilson like most Americans Woodrow Wilson did not want war he feared that entering the conflict would cost the United States many lives Wilson read the reports from European battlefields the news was unbelievably terrible by the end of 1916 several million men had been killed wounded or captured at the Battle of Verdun French forces stopped a German attack the cost was high on both sides more than 700 000 soldiers were killed wounded or captured the battle of the Somme followed Britain lost 60 000 men on the first day by the time the battle was over losses for both sides totaled more than a million Germany also was at War on its eastern border with Russia losses on that Battlefront too totaled more than a million men at the time of America's presidential election in 1916. Germany seemed to be winning the war its losses were terrible but the losses of its enemies the Allies were even worse German forces occupied much of northern France and almost all of Belgium German and Austrian soldiers also held parts of Russia Italy Romania and Serbia Germany was winning on the battlefield the Allies were winning at sea a British blockade cut off almost all German trade with the rest of the world even food shipments were blocked as a result Germany faced Mass starvation it urgently needed to break the blockade and get food this situation finally forced Germany to make the decision that would bring the United States into the war it decided to use its submarines to break the British blockade the submarines would attack any ships that came near Britain or other parts of Europe this included ships from neutral countries like the United States earlier Germany had made a promise to the United States its submarines would not attack civilian ships unless warning was given and the lives of those on the ships were saved now Germany was withdrawing that promise it said unrestricted submarine warfare would begin immediately German ruler Kaiser Wilhelm said if Wilson wants War let him make it and let him then have it President Wilson immediately broke diplomatic relations with Germany he still hoped the two nations would not go to war he left that decision to germinate if German submarines sank American ships Wilson would have no choice but to declare war most American shipping companies feared attack by German submarines throughout the early part of 1917 they kept their ships in home ports they wanted protection so they asked for permission to arm their ships at first President Wilson refused to seek such permission from Congress he did not want to do anything that might cause Germany to declare war then he received secret news from Britain British agents had gotten a copy of a telegram from Germany's foreign minister to Germany's Ambassador in Mexico the telegram said Germany was planning hostile acts against the United States Wilson acted quickly he began putting guns and sailors on American Trade ships [Music] take long for the worst to happen within days a German submarine sank an unarmed American ship the Algonquin then three more American ships were sunk many lives were lost President Wilson no longer had a choice between War and Peace there would be War son called a special session of Congress members of both the Senate and House of Representatives gathered in one room they stood as the president walked quickly to the front he stood silent for a moment before speaking this is what he said fully understanding the serious step I am taking I advise that the Congress declare the recent acts of the German government to be in fact nothing less than war against the United States it is a fearful thing to lead this great peaceful people into war but right is more precious than peace and we will fight for the things which we have always carried nearest our hearts for democracy for the rights and Liberties of small Nations and for the belief that a worldwide Union of free people can bring peace and safety to All Nations foreign President Wilson's emotional speech brought tears to the eyes of many of the lawmakers they felt the great seriousness of his request outside crowds lined the street to cheer Wilson as he returned to the White House from the Capitol building he sat in his car and shook his head sadly think of what it is they are cheering he said my message today was a message of death for our young men how strange it seems they would cheer that on April 6th 1917 Congress approved a declaration of war against Germany the Allies Britain France and Russia welcomed American involvement the war was going badly for them it had been very costly in lives money and supplies Allied Shipping was suffering heavy losses from German submarine attacks a British Naval blockade had greatly reduced food shipments to Germany now Britain itself faced dangerously low supplies of food Allied Representatives went to Washington to explain what the Allies needed they needed supplies especially food immediately they needed money to pay for the supplies they needed ships to get the supplies from America to Europe and they needed American soldiers President Wilson and Congress worked together to organize the United States for war Congress gave Wilson new wartime powers he soon formed a council to build ships improve industrial production and control National transportation he formed an agricultural agency to increase food production and food exports and he formed an information committee to build public support for the war Wilson's efforts succeeded the Allies quickly got the ships supplies and money they requested most important they soon got American soldiers allied military leaders said only about half million troops were needed from the United States but American officials decided to build a much larger Army before long large numbers of American soldiers were crossing the Atlantic Ocean they would fight the Germans at the Western battlefronts of Europe the extra strength they gave the Allies would play a major part in helping defeat Germany [Music] 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 Dan Novak [Music]
2023-03-21 11:49
