环球英语—820：Listener Mail 116

Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight’s listener mail program. I’m Adam Navis.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 1
Today’s Spotlight is on YOU! Today we look at what you had to say about our programs. Join us as we talk about stopping smoking, the history of chess, and mobile phones changing poverty.
Voice 2
Our first comments today come from the program “Stop Smoking”. In this program we told about the bad health effects of smoking tobacco cigarettes have on a person’s health. We also gave a few suggestions to help people who want to stop smoking. This program affected many people. Many had personal stories about smoking.
GelezniyDen shared:
Voice 3
“I was a smoker about eight years ago. And I knew that stopping smoking would be very difficult. But I do not agree with the writer of this program. For me I did not depend on the nicotine. It was just a habit - something I did without thinking about it. It just did not seem like I could live without cigarettes. But I had a strong will and I could stop smoking. People who need pills or other methods to stop smoking just do not have any will. Do not spend your money on cigarettes that are harmful for your health and on different pills and on different doctors. Just stop.”
Voice 1
Thanks for sharing your opinion! It is great that you could stop smoking. For some people, like you, the power of will is enough to stop smoking. However, it is extremely difficult to stop smoking. That is because the nicotine drug inside the cigarettes influences people’s brains.
Voice 2
Other listeners wished that the people around them could stop smoking. Anhnt2407 wrote:
Voice 4
“This is a fitting story for me and my father. I do not like to use cigarettes or breathe smoke. But I have a sad story from my father. He is a smoker. He smokes every day. He has spent a huge amount of my family’s saved money on tobacco. My mother, my older sister, and I have talked to him about this. But we have not had any good results. He will not stop smoking. In my country, reaching private doctors is impossible. We just have public and private hospitals just for curing. But this program gives me a lot of helpful suggestions. I will translate this page and explain to my father about the risks of smoking and methods of giving up smoking. Thank you very much.”
Voice 2
And Ly [Nature187_vn] had a similar story from her family.
Voice 5
“In my family, my father smokes. Each member of our family has told him to stop smoking because it is harmful for his health. Now, I will always encourage him. I believe he will have success. I think we should teach children and teenagers now about the dangers of smoking. Later they will know and should not smoke.”
Voice 1
Sometimes it can be helpful to know that other people are facing the same problems that we are. We wish both of you luck in encouraging your family members! Stopping smoking can be extremely difficult. But, as we said in our program: “If you want to stop smoking, do not stop trying!” Thanks for all your comments.
Voice 2
Our next comments come from a program about an ancient game that is still popular around the world today – chess! That program was called “A History of Chess”. Ly [Nature187_vn] has lots of experience with chess - she plays it! She writes:
Voice 5
“Although I am a girl, I like playing chess very much. When I was a child, I always played with my brother. Now I always play with my friend. And I am proud of my country, Vietnam. We have a boy named Nguy?n Ng?c Tr??ng S?n. He received a lot of awards for chess around the world. I think this is an interesting game. It is useful for relaxing when we feel bored or tired.”
Voice 1
We are happy that you enjoy the game so much. And thank you for sharing about Nguy?n Ng?c Tr??ng S?n. We looked up a little bit of information on him. He learned chess when he was only three years old. Then, at age ten, he won a gold medal at a world championship for children under ten. He is Vietnam’s youngest Grandmaster ever. Grandmaster is one of the highest levels a chess player can achieve. Saeid also told us about a famous Persian chess player named Ehsan Ghaem Maghami.
Voice 2
We also looked up some information on this chess player. Ehsan Ghaem Maghami currently holds a world record for chess! In April 2011, Maghami played over 600 games of chess at the same time! This took him over 25 hours to do. In all, Chessdom.com reports that he walked over 55 kilometers as he moved from game to game. And he won 590 of the games!
Voice 1
Our last comment about this program comes from Indraanddriyadi.
Voice 6
“I am happy that I now understand how chess was made and used. I got an interest in playing chess.”
Voice 1
We hope you enjoy the game! And thank you for writing to us.
Voice 2
Our last comments today come from the program “Mobile Phones Changing Poverty”. In that program we told how mobile telephones have helped people improve communication. Better communication means less waste - of time, money and fuel. Many of our listeners have mobile phones. And those mobile phones are very important to them! Tanya [tank!] wrote:
Voice 6
“Now I cannot imagine my life without my mobile! And recently I taught my grandmother how to use a mobile phone! She is 86. Now I can call her any time and know she feels good”
Voice 1
What a great story! Other listeners wrote how they are not just using their phones for communication! GelezniyDen wrote:
Voice 3
“I cannot imagine my life without my mobile phone. I usually use it to listen to music, for calls, reading electronic books, as an alarm clock, a photo camera, to look at the internet, to communicate through different programs like ICQ and Skype, and to do video calling. For me, my mobile phone is not just about communication. For me it is a center of many kinds of information.”
Voice 1
It is easy to see how mobile phone technology is changing people’s lives all over the world. It makes you wonder what mobile phones will be able to do next!