Imagine you work at a hotel. You answer phones and show people to their rooms. You meet a lot of interesting people at your job. And you have seen some strange things. Voice 2 One day, someone comes into the hotel. They walk up to your desk and tell you […]
Does your language use any English words? Yes? No? Hello? Voice 2 Languages often borrow words from each other. English speakers use many words that have come from other languages. For example, you may hear an English speaker say something like this: Voice 3 “I cannot believe I made that […]
Milk. This white liquid seems simple. Most human babies drink their mother’s breast milk. And when they grow up, some people drink milk from animals such as cows. Some people get milk from their own cow. Others drink store-bought milk from cows that live in huge factories. But milk is […]
Every day, Ray Kurzweil swallows 160 vitamin tablets. These small, hard pills contain healthy substances, usually found in food. But Kurzweil is eating huge amounts of vitamins. Voice 2 Every week, Kurzweil goes to a medical center. The medical workers put a sharp needle in his arm. Medicine slowly enters […]
Sangam Stadium is a huge sports arena in South Korea. It can hold almost 70,000 people to watch games. In 2002, FIFA World Cup games were played here. Tens of thousands of people crowded into Sangam Stadium to watch. Millions of people watched the games live on television. Voice 2 […]
Imagine a world where monsters are real. But these are not the frightening creatures that you see in films. And they are also different from the monsters in traditional stories. Some of these monsters live with humans. Some live in the wild, like animals. These creatures are more intelligent than […]
A few years ago, I googled my sister. I had not seen or heard from her for 20 years and I wanted to know where she was. So I turned on my computer, went to Google, and typed in her name. In a second or two I had a list […]
A group of young women walk through a public area in Japan. Suddenly, they stop and gather in a circle. One woman stands in the middle. Another woman walks away from the group. She turns and holds up a camera. The group counts to three in Japanese. The women in […]
Four young people are sitting around a table. They are laughing and talking together. A large piece of strong paper or board is on the top of the table. This board is marked with squares. Each young person has placed a small object or counter on the first square of […]
Almost every part of human life on earth today involves computers. Computers manage almost all of our banking, communication, information, health care, and government systems. But computer programs are all designed by people who work as computer programmers. So who are the computer programmers who design the programs that manage […]
Maru is a popular international star. He lives in Japan. But people all over the world know him. Every day, millions of people watch his short films, or videos, on the internet. They watch Maru play. They watch him explore his environment. They watch as he discovers new things. But […]
Voice 1 There is a large square stone near a river in Northern Wales. Grass and trees surround it. This gray stone marks where someone is buried. One side of the burial stone is covered with writing. It tells this story: Voice 2 “In the 13th century the son of […]
The Fugu fish is extremely poisonous to humans. Some people say it is hundreds of times more deadly than the poison cyanide. And there is enough poison in one Fugu fish to kill 30 people. Would you want to eat this fish? It can be safe if it is prepared […]
Lisa Garrity loves the trapeze. She enjoys moving through the air on this bar that hangs from two ropes. Riding the trapeze is hard work, but Lisa enjoys the exercise. However, Lisa noticed that she had to stop and rest more often than other people. Lisa always thought she was […]
In 1819, a young German doctor discovered a drug. The doctor’s name was Friedlieb Ferdinand Lunge. A friend had given Lunge some coffee beans to study. They were small and dark brown. As he tested the beans he discovered a chemical inside them: caffeine. Today, caffeine is the most used […]
What time do you usually go to bed? How many hours do you sleep each night? Do you ever wake up in the middle of the night? Voice 2 Sleeping traditions may be stranger than you know. For example, in the past, some people had two different sleeps every night. […]
Adil Das recently immigrated to Vancouver, Canada from eastern India. Das enjoys living in Canada. But sometimes he does not understand particular things about Canadian culture. One day, Das was watching television. A short advertisement began playing. A map of North America appeared on the television. On the map was […]
“In November of 2000, my life was going well. I had a lovely girlfriend. I had a working car. And I had a job. My job paid more than enough for me to survive. It also supported my increasingly expensive video game playing.” Voice 1 These are the words of […]
A woman cuts up a leafy, round, green vegetable – a cabbage. She mixes the cabbage leaves with spices to give it a good taste. She also adds water and salt. She lets the cabbage mixture sit for a few days. Then the woman tastes it and her mouth waters. […]
Most people have experienced an immediate reaction. Think about the last time you smelled something delicious. Did you react with an emotion? Have you had a reaction to a beautiful piece of art? Did you react emotionally when you saw someone you loved? Voice 2 Malcolm Gladwell is a writer. […]
The year was 1922. Charles Osborne was a farmer in the United States. He kept large animals, pigs, for food. On this day, he was preparing to kill one of the pigs. As Osborne measured the pig, it fell on top of him. Osborne was not hurt badly. But something […]
Every day, more than one billion people connect with each other using social media. People post pictures on websites like Facebook. They like and share videos that they have watched on YouTube. And they send messages to friends using programs like QQ Messenger. In just the last 10 years, social […]
Yawning. It is something that people everywhere do. It is a simple motion. Open your mouth extremely wide. Pull air into your mouth. Your lungs expand to fill with fresh air. The muscles near your stomach pull in. Your whole body feels a good stretch. Then you blow the rest […]
Storms. Floods. Mudslides. Tsunamis. Earthquakes. Most people know about the dangers of these natural disasters. But there is another natural disaster that can be just as dangerous as any of these. It is the heat wave. Voice 2 Heat waves can have deadly results. The World Health Organization says that […]
A woman sits outside with her friends. It is a hot, sunny afternoon. She wants something to drink – something light and sweet. She wants a soda! But the woman knows that there is a lot of sugar in soda. She also knows that too much sugar is bad for […]
Very simply, pizza is a food made by putting meat and vegetables, called toppings, on top of bread. But pizza is not the same everywhere. All around the world, people enjoy different toppings on their pizzas. In Brazil, green peas are popular on pizza. Voice 1 In Japan, food from […]
Imagine it is a hot summer day. The sun burns down on your skin. You have been working hard. You just want a break. You want something cool to eat. What do you choose? Well, millions of people around the world choose ice cream! Today’s Spotlight is on the history […]