环球英语—875：Listener Mail 118

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Welcome to Spotlight’s Listener Mail program. I’m Adam Navis.
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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.
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Today’s Spotlight is on you! Today we look at what you had to say about recent Spotlight programs. We also look at your comments from our Facebook page.
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Our first comments today come from a program about a sad subject. The program was called “Talking to Children About Death”. In that program we explored some reasons for being clear with children about death. One of our commenters had a particular interest in this subject. Conny said she is an Educational Psychologist. Educational Psychologists generally work closely with children. They often study how children learn. She said she agreed with everything in this program.
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Kenhieuloilam told us about his thoughts about death. He wrote:
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“When we were children in our village in our country, we were taught about death. Death helps us remember to try to always live our lives well. In life, there are many risks leading to death. I do not know anything about my own death. Nature and I are like friends. I try to live my life well. I am happy I see everyone. I have my responsibilities and duties to complete. If my death comes close I will be most afraid.”
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Another listener said simply:
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“Death. The starting of a new life”.
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Christians also believe that death is not the end. As the program stated: “For a Christian parent who believes in heaven, it may be best to say that there are many things people do not know about death. But there is one important thing we do know. Christians believe that they, like Jesus, will one day live again. Death is not the end!” Thank you for all your comments.
Voice 2
Next we look at Spotlight’s word of the day. Many of our listeners write to us asking a single question. They want to know how to improve their English! We are not a teaching program, but we do offer some ways for people to practice listening to, and writing, English. One way is to simply listen to Spotlight programs and follow along with the script. But you can also find other resources on our Facebook page.
Voice 1
One of the things we offer on our Facebook page is Spotlight’s word of the day. This is a short audio program. You can listen and read along. Each day of the week we choose a word from the day’s program. We tell the meaning of the word. Then we ask you to use it in a sentence. Many people join in this practice. Often they even learn from each other.
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One recent word of the day was forgiveness. Forgiveness is a noun. It means “the act of pardoning, or removing guilt from someone or something.” Here are examples of how some listeners used this word in a sentence. Leonardo offered this example:
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“Forgiveness is something we need to prevent war! It is also something we need to get peace in our souls!”
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And he added one other sentence about forgiveness too. He said:
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“By the way, it is never too late to forgive and forget!”
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Thanks for the advice Leonardo! Elizabeth added:
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“Forgiveness makes a world better.”
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Another Spotlight word of the day came from the program “Saving Babies in Afghanistan”. Afghanistan has a very high baby death rate. One of the reasons for this is that mothers and babies do not get enough good food to eat. Spotlight’s word of the day for this program was the word vitamin. We asked you to use the word vitamin in a sentence. Several people provided great examples! Here are the sentences people wrote:
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“I need vitamins in order to grow”.
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“Vitamins are essential for our health”.
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“Vitamins are good, but they could be dangerous in excess”.
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“The children in Afghanistan die because they have not got all the vitamins they need”.
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Thank you all for posting! If YOU have not already liked us on Facebook, you should! Add your own sentences for Spotlight’s word of the day. Or just read about interesting things other people have posted.
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We also concentrate on one country at the end of every week. A few recent countries we concentrated on were Russia, Saudi Arabia, Mexico and the United Kingdom. We post pictures and facts about the country. We also invite you to post your pictures about the country. And we also provide extra Spotlight programs about that country. Join us there!
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Next, we share a post from the discussion board on our website. Adin teaches English. And he has noticed a terrible problem with his students. He shared this question:
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“Cheating in a test has become popular with many students now. Do you agree with me? Not only children and teens, but also the adults. The cheating acts have been very serious. Many students are not afraid to look at their friends’ work. They do not study at home because they watch too many television programs and too many other forms of electronic entertainment. Adults cheat to get further in their jobs, or for other hidden purposes. What should we do?"
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Do you have any thoughts about Adin’s question? You can post your response on our discussion board. Or you can leave your comments on the script page of this program.
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Finally, we look at an event happening on September 8. Every year on September 8, the world celebrates World Literacy Day. Literacy is the ability to read and write. So, on this day, UNESCO encourages people to think about reading and learning. These are important skills. But UNESCO says that 796 million adults cannot read or write. They say over 67 million children are not in school. And many more children only attend school some of the time.
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UNESCO believes that education is a powerful tool. Education can help get rid of poverty. It can help save lives and change a community. But every person must be able to go to school. This year the theme of International Literacy Day is “Literacy and Peace”. What will you do to celebrate this day?
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That is all for today’s listener mail program. As always, thank you for sharing your thoughts and opinions with us!