Bai 1:

__(1)__

　is the Thanksgiving holiday in the United States. Americans gather with family and friends to share a meal. Some celebrate the holiday by telling what they are most ___(2)___ for.

This holiday __(3)____　,　a group of student-athletes in Woodburn, Oregon, has __(4)___ its community something to be thankful for.

The Woodburn High School boys soccer team has reached the state soccer __(5)_____ playoffs for __(6)_____ straight seasons. But the Bulldogs had never won the state championship -- until this year.

Their victory on Saturday also __(7)_____ a win for their mostly Hispanic hometown.

Writer Steve Wilson spent a year __(8)___ the successes and problems of the team. He wrote a book ___(9)___ "The Boys from Little Mexico: A Season Chasing the American Dream." It tells about a community struggling with ___(10)___ such as immigration and __(11)___ changes.

Migrant farm __(12)___ from Mexico started __(13)____ to Woodburn, Oregon about fifty years ago. Many of the workers stayed and made the town their home. So the town became __(14)____ as Little Mexico. Steve Wilson thinks the Woodburn boys soccer team's continued hard work and __(15)___ to win the state championship is similar ___(16)____ their cultural experiences.

__(17)____　many Mexican-Americans, the boys on the Woodburn team faced major __(18)___ . They include poverty, a language __(19)___ and immigration issues. Mr. Wilson wondered if those challenges were preventing the team __(20)____ reaching its goal of winning a state championship. So he __(21)____ to follow the team for an entire season. He got to know the players, coaches and _(22)___.

One of the __(23)_____ he writes about in the book is Martin Maldonado-Cortez. Martin says he and the other boys on the team knew that Woodburn had a bad　__(24)___.

The town has a __(25)____ of only twenty-two thousand people. But it faces many of the same problems　__(26)___　in large cities. These include gang　__(27)____　and illegal drugs. He says when the team went to play other schools the people did not act　__(28)____　toward them.

Martin says his coaches told him to　__(29)___　pride in his culture. They told him to　__(30)___　an effort to be successful in life -- and not just on the field.

1. Thursday 2. thankful

3. season 4. given 5. championship 6. twenty-five 7. represents 8. recording

9. called 10. issues 11. cultural 12. workers

13. coming 14. known 15. effort 16. to 17. Like 18. problems

19. barrier 20. from 21. decided 22. supporters 23. players 24. image

25. population 26. found 27. violence 28. friendly 29. show 30. make

Bai 2:

Freezing　__(1)__　can mean frostbite and hypothermia unless a person is __(2)__ . Today we talk about how to stay warm, dry and safe.

Frostbite is damage that happens when skin is exposed to __(3)__cold for too long. It mainly happens on the hands, __(4)___, nose and ears.

People with　__(5)__　__(6)__　of frostbite that affect only the skin may not __(7)__ any permanent damage. But if deeper tissue is　__(8)__, a person is likely to feel pain every time the area gets cold.

If blood vessels are damaged, people can suffer a gangrene __(9)__ . Sometimes the only way doctors can treat an __ (10)__ like this is to remove frostbitten areas like fingers and toes.

Hypothermia is a __(11)__ that develops when the body cannot __(12)__ as much heat as it releases. Signs of hypothermia include __(13)__ shaking, very slow __(14)__ and difficulty thinking clearly. Hypothermia can lead to __ (15)__if the person does not receive help.

To avoid cold-related injuries, here is a simple way to remember four basic steps to staying warm. Think of COLD -- C.O.L.D.

The C __(16)__ for cover. Wear a hat and scarf to keep heat from escaping through the head, neck and ears. And wear mittens instead of gloves. In gloves, the fingers are __(17)__, so the hands might not stay as warm as they would in mittens.

The O stands for overexertion. Avoid activities that will make you __(18)__. Wet clothes and cold weather are a dangerous __(19)__

L is for layers. Wearing loose, lightweight clothes, one layer on top of __(20)__, is better than wearing a __(21)__ heavy layer of clothing. Make sure outerwear is made of __(22)__ that is water-resistant and tightly knit.

D is for dry. In __ (23)__ words, stay as dry as possible. Pay attention to the __ (24)__ where snow can enter clothing. These include the tops of boots, the necks of coats and the __ (25)__ areas of mittens or gloves.

And here are two other things to keep in __(26)__-- one for children and the other for adults. Eating snow might be fun but it lowers the body's __(27)__. And drinking __(28)__ might make a person feel warm. But what it really does is weaken the body's __(29)__ to hold heat.

Next week: advice from __ (30)__ about what to do, and not to do, to help someone who is injured by cold weather.

And that's the VOA Special English Health Report. I'm Shirley Griffith

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Bai 3:

Twenty-five-year-old Rick Aggeler says he discovered early in life that music is __(1)__.

RICK AGGELER: "Music made me feel like anything was __(2)__."

At the age of seven, a medical condition required him to have a __(3)__ operation. It also prevented him from playing sports. So his mother suggested that he learn to play __(4)__ __(5)__.

RICK AGGELER: "I started __(6)__ drums with Ronit Glick. She was my elementary teacher. I remember just the joy it__(7)__ to me. It was my __(8)__ thing. Sixth grade was a new school to me and I had a hard time kind of getting along with all the kids. And Ms. Glick just took me in and I had so much fun at the__(9)__ . It just felt great all the time."

Rick Aggeler graduated from the Berklee College of Music in Boston, Massachusetts, in two thousand seven. While there, he volunteered as a music teacher at a youth __(10)__ in the Dorchester __(11)__ of Boston.

He helped create a small music __(12)__ within the center. The Music Clubhouse at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club quickly __(13)__.

Young people come to the Music Clubhouse after school and __(14)__ summer break. The club provides a safe __(15)__ to learn to play instruments and to perform together in bands. The club even has its own __(16)__ studio.

The club has released two albums. "Super Hero" is one of the songs from the second album, "Because of You."

Fourteen-year-old Javon Martin performs under the name Yung Fresh. He __(17)__ the Music Clubhouse three years ago.

Yung Fresh in the studio, recording his own songs　

YUNG FRESH: "It has __(18)__ my life in a big way because I never __(19)__ I would be doing this. We now give shows. I'm on the radio. People are actually starting to see me as like an __(20)__."

Ten-year-old Akheylah Hunter joined the club last year but did not play an __(21)__.　Now, she plays piano and sings in a band. What she likes best, she says, is performing.

AKHEYLAH HUNTER: "We performed in __(22)__ places like at Berklee College of Music. We go on __(23)__, like we went to the House of Blues and we went on stage and we performed, and it was very fun."

The Music Clubhouse opened three years ago and has __(24)__almost five hundred young people. Rick Aggeler says __(25)__ and performing is good for them.

RICK AGGELER: "I can see what it does for them, and it just develops __(26)__. It's also an escape. A big problem we have in the neighborhood is __(27)__ gangs, and family dynamics. And we have a lotof challenges. We can have those __(28)__and then they can write, too. They can rap about it and kind of let it out a little bit."

Rick Aggeler says he is happy but not __(29)__by the results of the Music Clubhouse at the Blue Hill Boys and Girls Club.

RICK AGGELER: "As much fun as I do have drumming and performing live, it's definitely more __(30)__ and more fun, watching these kids grow up and develop."

And that's the VOA Special English Education Report. I'm Steve Ember.

1. magic2. possible3. brain4. drums5. instead6. playing7. brought8. favorite9. program10. center11. neighborhood12. club13. grew14. during15. environment16. recording17. joined18. impacted19. thought20. artist21. instrument.22. different23. trips24. served25. preparing26. confidence27. obviously28. conversations29. surprised30. rewarding

Bai 4:

The world has almost seven __(1)__ people. At least two billion are __(2)__ to be on the Internet by __(3)__. New growth is mostly from developing countries. Yet only twenty-one percent of their population is online.

A group called the World Wide Web Foundation is working to make the Web more __(4)__ to more of the world.

Tim Berners-Lee is the British computer __(5)__ who invented the World Wide Web. He announced the launch of the Web Foundation last November.

The group says many people can access the Web but are unable to __(6)__ it. The biggest reason is illiteracy.

The latest United Nations report says almost eight hundred million __(7)__ are unable to read or write. Even for those who can read, much of the information that is __(8)__ on the Web is not in __(9)__ language they can understand.

Steve Bratt is chief __(10)__ of the Web Foundation.

STEVE BRATT: "If you're a poor __(11)__ living in a very impoverished part of Botswana and you're trying to __(12)__ your family, trying to buy and sell goods, trying to get medical __(13)__ for your kids or your employees, and you speak a __(14)__ language, there's nothing on today's Web that's going to help you, right?

"So even if they had __(15)__ and they had a mobile phone, or something they could get to the Web, what would they look for? What would they be able to __(16)__?"

Tim Berners-Lee first proposed the idea for the World Wide Web in nineteen eighty-nine. This was twenty years after Americans __(17)__ the first version of what we know as theInternet.

The Internet is a network of networks. It lets millions of computers __(18)__ with each other. The Web is a major part. However, people now often use __(19)__ that are not Web-based, like on social networks and mobile devices like the iPhone.

Tim Berners-Lee __(20)__ the World Wide Web as a way to help people __(21)__information. His __(22)__ work brought the Hypertext Markup Language, or HTML, used to create Web __(23)__. It also gave us the Hypertext Transfer Protocol -- the HTTP before Web addresses.

By two thousand eight, Google reported that the number of Web pages had passed one __(24)__. Steve Bratt says the World Wide Web Foundation wants __(25)__ to be able to use this information.

STEVE BRATT: "Our main __(26)__ is to advance the Web to empower people. It's focusing on the Web not just as a technology, but as one of the most __(27)__ means for connecting people to　__(28)__　and people to each other."

Partnerships with the Web Science Trust and the World Wide Web Consortium aim to create applications that make the Web more user-friendly. Steve Bratt says mobile technology is an important part of that work, as more and more people use their phones to go online.

STEVE BRATT: "One of the __(29)__ we have is to make the Web a lot easier to use even on the __(30)__ and least expensive mobile phones."

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. I'm Steve Ember.

1. billion2. expected3. January4. usable5. scientist6. use7. adults8. available9. a10. executive11. shopkeeper12. feed13. services14. local15. connectivity16. understand17. developed18. communicate19. applications20. created21. share22. early23. pages24. trillion25. everyone26. purpose27. powerful28. knowledge29. challenges30. simplest

Bai 5:

This week on our program, we play some favorite songs about winter.

It is winter in many __(1)__ of the world. For some areas, that means __(2)__. Maybe even __(3)__ of snow. If you do not have to __(4)__ in it or remove it, snow can be very beautiful.

When snow covers everything __(5)__ you, the world looks __(6)__ a "Winter Wonderland." That is the name of a very __(7)__ song __(8)__ winter. Richard Smith and Felix Bernard wrote the song way back in __(9)__.

There are hundreds of recordings of this happy song. Here is a lovely version by James Taylor.

__(10)__ winter is not always such a __(11)__ and happy time. It is cold outside. The wind blows to make it even __(12)__. You try hard to keep warm. The days are shorter and __(13)__　

The sun rarely __(14)__. The __(15)__ on the trees are brown or have fallen to the __(16)__ .The flowers are mostly gone. It is not surprising that some people are sad in winter.

And some people dream about being __(17)__ else where it is warm and pretty -- like the state of California. The Mamas and the Papas recorded this famous song, "California Dreamin'," in nineteen sixty-five.

During the nineteen sixties, many other __(18)__ rock groups released songs about winter. Here is a poetic song by Simon and Garfunkel called "A Hazy Shade of Winter." They sing about life and hope and __(19)__.

In nineteen sixty-eight, the group Blood, Sweat and Tears __(20)__ this gentle, sad song about winter. They sing about a lost love and forgotten memories in "Sometimes in Winter."

In the early nineteen nineties, Tori Amos wrote and recorded this beautiful song __(21)__ "Winter." She sings about when she was a child.

Gordon Lightfoot wrote and recorded __(22)__ sad and __(23)__ song about winter in __(24)__.

Sarah McLachlan recorded "Song for a Winter's Night" for an album in two thousand six. She sings about __(25)__ a love letter and wishing the writer were with her __(26)__.

: Finally, on a__(27)__ note comes this song written and recorded by Fountains of Wayne in two thousand three. They sing about a __(28)__ in a New England town. Nothing unusual there. But __(29)__ of being sad or tense about the snow, they write a song about it. We leave you __(30)__ "Valley Winter Song."

This program was written by Shelley Gollust and produced by Caty Weaver. I'm Steve Ember.

1. parts2. snow3. lots4. drive5. around6. like7. popular8. about9. nineteen thirty-four (1934)10. but11. beautiful12. colder13. darker.14. shines15. leaves16. ground.17. somewhere18. famous19. possibilities20. recorded21. called22. another23. lovely24. nineteen seventy-five (1975)25. reading26. now27. happier28. snowstorm29. instead30. with

Bai 6:

An __(1)__ called the World Future Society publishes a __(2)__ report about how technology, the __(3)__ and society are influencing the world. Tim Mack heads the World Future Society. He says medicine is one __(4)__ of growth.

TIM MACK: "I was surprised by the __(5)__ growth in medical technology."

Mr. Mack says the fields of nanotechnology, biotechnology and information technology are working __(6)__ to create new ways to help __(7)__. These include better ways to provide medicine and identify __(8)__ without invasive operations.

Mr. Mack also says developments in artificial intelligence could lead __(9)__ a future where disabled patients could be __(10)__ for by a voice-activated robot.

The World Future Society also publishes The Futurist __(11)__. Every year it examines developments in technology and other areas to predict the __(12)__. The magazine __(13)__ the top ten predictions from the Outlook 2011 report.

Several of the __(14)__ dealt with technology. The report said Internet search engines will __(15)__include both text and __(16)__ results. It said television __(17)__ and other recordings could be gathered using programs __(18)__ by the Fraunhofer Institute for Intelligent Analysis.

Outlook 2011 also examined refuse __(19)__. It said industrial __(20)__ will send much more waste to developing countries. This will __(21)__ protests in those countries. In about fifteen years, developing countries will stop accepting __(22)__ waste. This will force __(23)__ nations to develop better waste-to-energy programs and __(24)__ technologies.

The report also had a prediction about __(25)__. It said young people use technologies for socializing as well as working and learning. So they __(26)__ problems more as teams instead of __(27)__. In this way, social networking is supporting different kinds of learning __(28)__ the classroom.

The World Future Society also predicts that robots will be able to carry out mental commands from human beings. Scientists have shown that __(29)__ can type by using their brains without physically touching computer __(30)__. In the near future, experts say brain e-mailing and "tweeting" will become more common..

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Bai 7:

This is the VOA Special English ___(1)___　Report.

A new Internet　___ (2) ___　center in Togo will give young people in that part of West Africa a　___ (3) ___　to improve their job skills.

The International　___ (4) ___　Union and the computer-networking　___ (5) ___　Cisco Systems launched the center. A telecom company in Lome is also taking part in the　___ (6) ___.

Robert Shaw of the ITU　___ (7) ___　students will learn the basics of what he calls the "real plumbing of the　___ (8) ___."

ROBERT SHAW: "Internet protocol-based networks, they're almost behind everything we do. They run the financial　___ (9) ___. They might be controlling the power systems. So either directly or indirectly we're dependent upon these systems. And there's a lot of pressure to have___ (10) ___　people."

This　___ (11) ___, five instructors completed two weeks of intensive training known as the Cisco Certified Networking Academy. They also learned how to train　___ (12) ___. Robert Shaw says this kind of train-the-trainer program helps meet a　___ (13) ___　demand for professionals in information and communication technologies, or ICT.

ROBERT SHAW: "The Internet and these networks are growing so　___ (14) ___, it's really hard to keep up. And it's a bit like what they said in 'Alice in Wonderland': you have to run twice as fast just to stay in the same place. And the rate of change means it's very difficult for the classical educational programs to　___ (15) ___　up with the demand that's out there in the marketplace."

Mr. Shaw says recent years have seen an even　___ (16) ___　demand for these kinds of programs in the developing　___ (17) ___.

ROBERT SHAW: "At the end of 2010 there's about two billion users on the internet. The　___ (18) ___　of those -- about 1.2 billion -- is now in developing countries, and that's almost the complete opposite of what the situation was five years　___ (19) ___."

The ITU launched its Internet Training Center program in 2001. The centers are meant to help spread the growth of ICT jobs to developing___ (20) ___. More than　___ (21) ___　centers have opened in the Asia-Pacific area, Latin America,　___ (22) ___　Europe and Africa.

Mr. Shaw says the new center in Lome will open to students in　___ (23) ___.

ROBERT SHAW: "One of the things we're trying to do in this program is also to encourage participation by　___ (24) ___, by girls. So there's a recommendation that they target at　___ (25) ___　thirty percent female enrollment."

Other locations in Africa include Angola, Cape Verde, Kenya, Malawi and Mali. They also　___ (26) ___　Rwanda, Senegal, Tanzania, Mauritania, Uganda and Zimbabwe.

Students pay for the training; the cost　___ (27) ___　different in each　___ (28) ___. Those who complete the program are known as Cisco-certified. The program lasts about　___ (29) ___　months because most students attend part time.

And that's the VOA Special English Technology Report, written by June Simms. You can read and listen to all of our reports at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also join us on Facebook,　___ (30) ___　and YouTube at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.

Goi y: 1/ Technology2/ training3/ chance4/ Telecommunication5/ Company6/ effort7/ says8/ Internet9/ systems10/ trained11/ month12/ others13/ growing14/ fast15/ keep16/ stronger17/ world18/ majority19/ ago20/ countries21/ eighty(80)22/ Eastern23/ March24/ women25/ least26/ will include27/ is28/ country29/ six(6)30/ Twitter