VOA标准英语2012--NASA Satellite Offers Astonishing View of Venus Transit

NASA Satellite Offers Astonishing View of Venus Transit Skygazers massed outside the Smithsonian National Air and Space Museum in the U.S capital, eager to see the rare transit of Venus. The museum offered telescopes. People donned special protective

VOA标准英语2012--Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' Celebrates 100

Stravinsky's 'Rite of Spring' Celebrates 100 The opening notes of The Rite of Spring are iconic and beloved today. But for many audience members who came to the Ballet Russes in 1913, they were unwelcome. A bassoon had likely never been performed in

VOA标准英语2012--AntiGravity Yoga Gains Popularity

AntiGravity Yoga Gains Popularity At first glance, students hanging upside down on hammocks made of silk cloth hanging from the ceiling seems more like acrobatics than yoga. When I first saw people hanging upside down from hammocks and calling it yog

VOA标准英语2012--Alzheimer's Researchers Switch Focus to Prevention Methods

Alzheimer's Researchers Switch Focus to Prevention Methods As people live longer, there is growing pressure to develop a drug or vaccine that stops dementia. Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius says setting priorities and coordinati

VOA标准英语2012--Rival Militias Still Fighting in Libya

Rival Militias Still Fighting in Libya Fadi Tarapolsi was at the White House the night Libyan leader Moammar Gadhafis reign came to an end. Im on cloud nine right now, you know, he said. Tarapolsi returned to Libya with his ailing father to celebrate

VOA标准英语2012--Recycling Bin - End of Line, a New Beginning

Recycling Bin - End of Line, a New Beginning The recycle bin. It is often the last stop for empty containers. But for papers, plastics, cardboards and cans, it can mark the beginning of a journey thousands of kilometers long. As long as people keep t

VOA标准英语2012--New Yorkers Welcome Enterprise Space Shuttle

New Yorkers Welcome Enterprise Space Shuttle Under blue skies, a barge bearing the space shuttle prototype Enterprise powered up the Hudson River Wednesday morning, past the New York skyline -- arriving midday at the Intrepid Sea, Air Space Museum. V

VOA标准英语2012--Wisconsin Vote Could Impact US Presidential Election

Wisconsin Vote Could Impact US Presidential Election It was a moment of sweet vindication for Wisconsins embattled Republican governor, Scott Walker. Voters really do want leaders who stand up and make the tough decisions, Walker said. Walker angered

VOA标准英语2012--UN Warns of Irreversible Damage to Planet

UN Warns of Irreversible Damage to Planet The Global Environmental Outlook, or GEO5, says the world is on an unsustainable path, despite more than 500 international agreements. And scientific evidence says Earth's systems are being pushed toward thei

VOA标准英语2012--Marula Oil to Fight Poverty in Swaziland

Marula Oil to Fight Poverty in Swaziland They say money does not grow on trees, but for Sibongile Ndzinisa, it kind of does. In her backyard, the fallen fruits from her marula tree are her new source of income. She supplies the local factory which ma

VOA标准英语2012--Twin Crises Converge on Burkina Faso

Twin Crises Converge on Burkina Faso In northern Burkina Faso, near the Malian border, thousands of refugees have settled here in Mentao Camp, including Bassta Waleta Sidi and her family. We fled the violence and the killing in Mali. We are safe now,

VOA标准英语2012--Airlift Returns S. Sudanese Refugees Home

Airlift Returns S. Sudanese Refugees Home An airlift is under way to bring more than 12,000 South Sudanese citizens home from neighboring Sudan. The returnees were blocked from going home when Khartoum shut down some of its borders due to clashes wit

VOA标准英语2012--Olympics Blamed for Stoking Debt Crisis in Greece

Olympics Blamed for Stoking Debt Crisis in Greece Eight years on from 2004, Athens Olympic Park is abandoned, overgrown, closed to the public. The fencing arena is now a rusting warehouse. The canoe slalom course was built at a cost of millions of do

VOA标准英语2012--Mubarak Verdict Resounds Through Divided Egypt

Mubarak Verdict Resounds Through Divided Egypt The crowd outside the courthouse gathered around any screen they could find to see the historic moment unfold. Firstly, Mohammed Hosni al-Sayyid Mubarak is sentenced to life in prison for his role in the

VOA标准英语2012--Nigeria's Religious Leaders Work to Stop Violence

Nigeria's Religious Leaders Work to Stop Violence Kaduna, much like the Nigerian state itself, is divided into a mainly Muslim north and a predominantly Christian south. In April 2011, post-election riots in Kaduna state descended into religious viol

VOA标准英语2012--Britain's Queen Joins Giant Flotilla for Jubilee Celebration

Britain's Queen Joins Giant Flotilla for Jubilee Celebration A specially outfitted ship carried the 86-year-old queen and her family along the River Thames at the head of a 1,000-boat parade. Rain and cold kept many people away, but tens of thousands

VOA标准英语2012--Remembering Remote Control Inventor Gene Polley

Remembering Remote Control Inventor Gene Polley Whenever someone leaves the earth having changed it, we like to make note of it. Not just the famous or notorious, but also obscure people who dreamed up something memorable or useful in our everyday li

VOA标准英语2012--Greeks Divided as Election Stalemate Looms Again

Greeks Divided as Election Stalemate Looms Again Industrial disputes do not get much worse than this. The workers at the Hellenic Halyvourgia steel plant have been on strike for more than 200 days. Yorgos Sifonios is president of the workers union. H

VOA标准英语2012--Office Cubicle Dwellers Build 'Walls' for Privacy

Office Cubicle Dwellers Build 'Walls' for Privacy Office mazes in which just about everybody below the rank of vice president works in large open spaces, divided by partitions into cubicles, are the standard workplace setting for millions of American

VOA标准英语2012--Hispanic Voters Could Play Key Role in US Election

Hispanic Voters Could Play Key Role in US Election Luis Torres and Willie Fernandez run a Houston company that does completion work on construction projects. But when it comes to politics, they differ, with Fernandez being more critical of President