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Present Perfect Tense AA: I’m Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster: practice makes perfect. RS: With us from Los Angeles is English teacher Lida Baker to explain a part of grammar that makes English learners tense. AA: It’s the verb tense known as the present perfect. First of all, Lida says don’t be misled by the archaic meaning of perfect. &nb
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Indonesia Eathquake: Relief Operations Fully Underway After trickling in for two days, aid to the shattered island began pouring in Thursday, with international aid organizations and the Indonesian military ferrying in water, food and medicine. Scores of people sought refuge in temporary shelters such as this one, on the island’s capital, Gunung Sitoli. As many as 30 perce
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Wolfowitz Nomination as World Bank President Brings Swift Reaction President Bush has nominated Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz to be the next president of the World Bank. Mr. Wolfowitz is considered a key architect of the US policy in Iraq, and his nomination has brought swift reaction from both supporters and critics. President Bush has described Mr. Wolfowitz as compassio
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Watchdog Group Calls for Anti-Corruption Crackdown in Global Construction Sector The watchdog group Transparency International says on a worldwide basis, corruption is greater in the construction industry than in any other economic sector. Transparency International says money that is diverted into bribes plunders economies and can in some cases cost lives. On a global scale, there
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Top 10 Words Looked Up Online in 2004 For years, the Merriam-Webster Dictionary has been one of the most popular and authoritative dictionaries of the American language in use -- even when it was just in book form. Today, the company's online dictionary is visited hundreds of thousands of times each month over the Internet. Because its website records the words people want to know, Merriam
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Scottish Pipe Band J: Hello, I'm Jody! Y: 大家好, 我是杨晨! J: And welcome to American Cafe. Y: 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋. (Enter pipe band music) Y: Jody, 今天的这个音乐, 我怎么觉得这么熟悉啊？ J: Today I thought we would introduce Margaret Peng, the Chinese-American woman we met who does something quite uncommon. Sh
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Kramer's Cafe Y: 欢迎您到美语咖啡屋。 J: Hello everyone, my name is Jody! And welcome to American Cafe! American Cafe is a place where you can improve your spoken English by meeting people who actually live and work in the United States. You're going to learn a lot more than English. I promise. Y: 没错, 我们这个节目非常丰富多彩。您在这里不但可
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South Koreans Protest Over Disputed Islands with Japan South Korean authorities say they will allow and encourage citizens to visit a set of tiny islands at the heart of a dispute with Japan. The announcement came Wednesday, just hours after a the Shimane Prefecture assembly in Japan passed a resolution designating what it calls "Takeshima Day." Takeshima is the Japanese name for th
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'Million Dollar' Night at the Academy Awards Million Dollar Baby earned four Oscars, including one for best actress for Hilary Swank. She played a woman determined to become a boxing champion and played opposite Clint Eastwood, who starred in the film, as well as directing it. (Movie Snippet) Morgan Freeman earned an Oscar for his supporting role in the film. Backstage, he de
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Remembrance of Pope John Paul II Pope John Paul II was elected in 1978. When white smoke poured out of the Sistine Chapel chimney on October 16 that year, the world was stunned to learn that the newly elected pope was from communist Poland, the first non-Italian in over 450 years. U.S. Cardinal Edmund Szoka: I could not believe it. I never expected that he would be elected pope. &n
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Indian Group Promotes Development by Bringing Water,Toilets to 700 Million People Hundreds of millions of homes across India lack running water and, therefore, toilets - which leads to disease and has social implications. Sulabh International, a private Indian group, is working to change that situation by building public toilets across the country. At the Old Delhi Railway Station
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47th Grammy Awards Kanye West: When I had my accident, I found out at that moment nothing in life is promised except death. If you had the opportunity to play this game of life, you need to appreciate every moment. A lot of people don't appreciate their moment until it's passed. Last year, Kanye West said he was "robbed" when he didn't win top honors at the American Music Awards. K
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World's First Anti-Tobacco Treaty Goes into Force The world's first treaty aimed at cutting tobacco-related deaths has come into force. The World Health Organization's Framework Convention on Tobacco Control becomes legally binding upon countries that have ratified the landmark agreement. The World Health Organization says it believes the Tobacco Convention, the world's first inter
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Americans Recover Record of Couple's Last Moments Before Asian Tsunami We all know about the power of the Internet to connect people in a community or on opposite ends of the earth. But one family, grieving over the sudden death of two of its loved ones in last December's Asian tsunami, has felt the Internet's power in a remarkable, personal way. Christian Pilet is a missionary fro
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American Singer Bobby Short Dead At 80 Bobby Short's devotion to the works of Rodgers and Hart, George Gershwin and Cole Porter made him a household name among followers of popular music. But it was his unwavering dedication to the Café Carlyle at Manhattan's Algonquin Hotel that forever sealed his legacy. Bobby Short arrived in New York in 1956, and dreamed of someday performing at the C
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Movie Academy Presents Scientific, Technical Oscars The red carpet will be rolled out in Hollywood when the Academy Awards, known as the Oscars, are presented later this month. Oscars for scientific and technical achievements have already been handed out, with a little less fanfare but just as much excitement for the winners. This event was not in Hollywood but in nearby Pasadena, where en
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Crude Oil Prices Surge despite OPEC Production Boost World oil prices have surged to record highs, even as the Organization of Petroleum Exporting Countries announced a boost in production. For the first time, oil prices rose above $56 a barrel in New York for light sweet crude, while Brent North Sea crude hit a new record of $54 and 85 cents a barrel in London. The spike in
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Rice Says No Agreements on F-16 Sales to Pakistan, India U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice's talks with India's foreign minister covered regional defense issues, including the possible sale of U.S. fighter jets to India's long-standing rival, Pakistan. India is the first stop on Ms. Rice's six-nation tour of Asia - her first trip to the region since becoming secretary of state. &nb
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US Congress Urged to Reorganize Anti-Terrorist Oversight The United States has taken major steps to protect itself from terrorism in the three and one-half years since the September 11, 2001 attacks. Policy makers and experts are urging the Bush administration and the Congress to do more. In the wake of the 2001 attacks, Congress set up the Department of Homeland Security, wh
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Kyoto Protocol Takes Effect The Kyoto Protocol on global warming has come into effect after years of delays. But the landmark agreement to reduce greenhouse gas emissions lacks the support of the United States and there is concern that the accord will not achieve its targets in Japan. Ceremonies to mark the Kyoto Protocol were held in the former Japanese capital where the agre
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US Senate Panel Approves Rice Nomination A U.S. Senate panel has approved Condoleezza Rice as secretary of state and sent the nomination to the full Senate for a vote. The Senate Foreign Relations Committee voted 16-2 to approve Ms. Rice's nomination. Two Democrats opposed the nomination, including Senator Barbara Boxer of California and Senator John Kerry of Mass
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Italian PM Announces Phased Withdrawal from Iraq Prime Minister Berlusconi said Italy would start to reduce its 3,000 strong contingent in Iraq before the end of the year. He added that the pullout would begin in September and would be gradual. Mr. Berlusconi said the number of soldiers withdrawn would depend on the Iraqi government's ability to handle its own security.
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Britain's Prince Charles to Marry Camilla Parker Bowles Britain's king-in-waiting, Prince Charles, is to marry Camilla Parker Bowles, the woman widely blamed for the collapse of his first marriage to the late Princess Diana. The wedding is set for April 8 at Windsor Castle. Charles's parents, Queen Elizabeth and Prince Phillip, say they are very happy for the couple. His sons, Prin
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UN Raises Record Aid Amounts for Tsunami Victims The United Nations says international donors have committed $700 million in immediate aid to victims of the Indian Ocean tsunami. While funds flow in at an unprecedented pace, the goal of reaching all victims remains elusive. U.N. emergency relief coordinator Jan Egeland is predicting that donors will meet or exceed the goal of nearly
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Lebanon Mourns Former PM Rafik Hariri An estimated 200,000 mourners jammed central Beirut Wednesday to pay last respects to Lebanon's former Prime Minister Rafik Hariri. Mr. Hariri died when a suicide bomber set off an explosion in his motorcade Monday. At least 14 others were also killed and a hundred more wounded. Lebanese blame the bombing on the former prime minister's po
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Forbes Magazine Lists World's Wealthiest People It's a Who's Who of who earned the most, and how much they are worth that is almost too much to fathom. Forbes Associate Editor Luisa Kroll says she was surprised by the number of new, young, self-made billionaires on the list. Luisa Kroll: China had its first young self-made billionaire, a guy who is only 35-years-old, Wong
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Iraq Election Officials Announce Final Results It took Iraqi chief election official Adil Allami more than 15 minutes to get through the list of election results. There were more than 100 groups on the ballot. The Shiite religious list, known as the United Iraqi Alliance, received 48 percent of the votes, well below the 60 percent some had predicted. The alliance is likely to take a
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Relationship Between Bush and Putin Getting Weaker After their first meeting in 2001, President Bush was convinced Mr. Putin was a man he could trust. President Bush: I looked the man in the eye, I found him very straightforward and trustworthy… I was able to get a sense of his soul. That personal bond grew stronger three months later when the Russian president was the firs
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