Disabled / Brain-Computer Interface

This is the VOA Special English Technology Report.

Since the nineteen seventies, scientists have been searching for ways to link the brain with computers. Brain-computer interface, or BCI, technology could help people with disabilities send commands to machines.

Recently, scientists demonstrated a small robotic vehicle directed by a person's thoughts. The demonstration took place at the Swiss embassy in Washington. Jose Millan and Michele Tavella developed the system. Mr. Tavella can even talk as he watches the vehicle and guides it with his thoughts.

Mr. Tavella is a researcher at the Federal Polytechnic School in Lausanne, Switzerland. In the laboratory, he can operate a wheelchair just by thinking about moving his left or right hand.

Professor Millan is the team leader. He says systems like those being developed in Lausanne and other places may be available in less than ten years. The aim is to give people with physical disabilities new ways to communicate and control devices through brain-machine interfaces.

Our brain has billions of nerve cells. These send signals through the spinal cord to the muscles to give us the ability to move. But spinal cord injuries or other conditions can prevent these weak electrical signals from reaching the muscles.

The researchers designed a special cap for the user. It captures the signals from the scalp and redirect them to a computer. The computer interprets the signals and commands the motorized wheelchair. The wheelchair also has two cameras that identify objects in its path. They help the computer react to commands from the brain.

Professor Millan says scientists keep improving the computer software that identifies brain signals and turns them into simple commands. He says: "The practical possibilities that brain-machine interfaces offer to disabled people can be grouped in two categories: Communication, and controlling physical devices and virtual devices." One example is the wheelchair.

He says his team has set two goals. "First is testing with real patients, so as to demonstrate that this is a feasible technology they can benefit from. And the second aspect of that is to guarantee that they can use the technology over long periods of time.”

For VOA Special English, I'm ... You can learn more about the world everyday and learn English at the same time at voaspecialenglish.com. You can also connect with us on Facebook and Twitter at VOA Learning English.

Learn MBA with short lectures

Task analysis

Mary Kay: Hi Dave! So, tell us about “Task Analysis”.
David Powell: Task analysis is the process of analyzing and codifying the kind of learning that an instructional designer expects students to acquire. Information from a task analysis can be used for many purposes such as selecting and training personnel and designing tools, checklists and procedures.

Market basket analysis

Mary Kay: Hi, Dave. Tell us about market basket analysis.
David Powell: Market basket analysis is a modeling technique that helps companies predict future customer purchases by examining their current baskets. It is often used to analyze online purchasing patterns and is based on the theory that if a customer buys a certain group of items, they may be more or less likely to buy similar or related items.

Subordinate skill

Mary Kay: Hello, Dave. So tell us about the term “subordinate skill.”
David Powell: Subordinate skill is a skill that must be achieved before one can learn a higher-level skill. Subordinate skills are also known as sub-skills, pre-requisites, or enabling skills.

 

Continuing on...

 

Source: www.syberworks.com-lingo

Larry Page's University of Michigan commencement address

Class of 2009! First I’d like you to get up, wave and cheer your supportive family and friends! Show your love!

It is a great honor for me to be here today.

Now wait a second. I know: that’s such a cliché. You’re thinking: every graduation speaker says that – It’s a great honor. But, in my case, it really is so deeply true – being here is more special and more personal for me than most of you know. I’d like to tell you why.

A long time ago, in the cold September of 1962, there was a Steven’s co-op at this very university. That co-op had a kitchen with a ceiling that had been cleaned by student volunteers every decade or so. Picture a college girl named Gloria, climbing up high on a ladder, struggling to clean that filthy ceiling. Standing on the floor, a young boarder named Carl was admiring the view. And that’s how they met. They were my parents, so I suppose you could say I’m a direct result of that kitchen chemistry experiment, right here at Michigan. My Mom is here with us today, and we should probably go find the spot and put a plaque up on the ceiling that says: "Thanks Mom and Dad!"

Everyone in my family went to school here at Michigan: me, my brother, my Mom and Dad – all of us. My Dad actually got the quantity discount: all three and a half of his degrees are from here. His Ph.D. was in Communication Science because they thought Computers were just a passing fad. He earned it 44 years ago. He and Mom made a big sacrifice for that. They argued at times over pennies, while raising my newborn brother. Mom typed my Dad’s dissertation by hand. This velvet hood I’m wearing, this was my Dad’s. And this diploma, just like the one you’re are about to get, that was my Dad’s. And my underwear, that was… oh never mind.

My father’s father worked in the Chevy plant in Flint, Michigan. He was an assembly line worker. He drove his two children here to Ann Arbor, and told them: That is where you’re going to go to college. Both his kids did graduate from Michigan. That was the American dream. His daughter, Beverly, is with us today. My Grandpa used to carry an "Alley Oop" hammer – a heavy iron pipe with a hunk of lead melted on the end. The workers made them during the sit-down strikes to protect themselves. When I was growing up, we used that hammer whenever we needed to pound a stake or something into the ground. It is wonderful that most people don’t need to carry a heavy blunt object for protection anymore. But just in case, I have it here.

My Dad became a professor at uh… Michigan State, and I was an incredibly lucky boy. A professor’s life is pretty flexible, and he was able to spend oodles of time raising me. Could there be a better upbringing than university brat?

What I’m trying to tell you is that this is WAY more than just a homecoming for me. It’s not easy for me to express how proud I am to be here, with my Mom, my brother and my wife Lucy, and with all of you, at this amazing institution that is responsible for my very existence. I am thrilled for all of you, and I’m thrilled for your families and friends, as all of us join the great, big Michigan family I feel I’ve been a part of all of my life.

What I’m also trying to tell you is that I know exactly what it feels like to be sitting in your seat, listening to some old gasbag give a long-winded commencement speech. Don’t worry. I’ll be brief.

I have a story about following dreams. Or maybe more accurately, it’s a story about finding a path to make those dreams real.

You know what it’s like to wake up in the middle of the night with a vivid dream? And you know how, if you don’t have a pencil and pad by the bed to write it down, it will be completely gone the next morning?

Well, I had one of those dreams when I was 23. When I suddenly woke up, I was thinking: what if we could download the whole web, and just keep the links and… I grabbed a pen and started writing! Sometimes it is important to wake up and stop dreaming. I spent the middle of that night scribbling out the details and convincing myself it would work. Soon after, I told my advisor, Terry Winograd, it would take a couple of weeks to download the web – he nodded knowingly, fully aware it would take much longer but wise enough to not tell me. The optimism of youth is often underrated! Amazingly, I had no thought of building a search engine. The idea wasn’t even on the radar. But, much later we happened upon a better way of ranking webpages to make a really great search engine, and Google was born. When a really great dream shows up, grab it!

When I was here at Michigan, I had actually been taught how to make dreams real! I know it sounds funny, but that is what I learned in a summer camp converted into a training program called Leadershape. Their slogan is to have a "healthy disregard for the impossible". That program encouraged me to pursue a crazy idea at the time: I wanted to build a personal rapid transit system on campus to replace the buses. It was a futuristic way of solving our transportation problem. I still think a lot about transportation – you never loose a dream, it just incubates as a hobby. Many things that people labor hard to do now, like cooking, cleaning, and driving will require much less human time in the future. That is, if we "have a healthy disregard for the impossible" and actually build new solutions.

I think it is often easier to make progress on mega-ambitious dreams. I know that sounds completely nuts. But, since no one else is crazy enough to do it, you have little competition. There are so few people this crazy that I feel like I know them all by first name. They all travel as if they are pack dogs and stick to each other like glue. The best people want to work the big challenges. That is what happened with Google. Our mission is to organize the world’s information and make it universally accessible and useful. How can that not get you excited? But we almost didn’t start Google because my co-founder Sergey and I were too worried about dropping out of our Ph.D. program. You are probably on the right track if you feel like a sidewalk worm during a rainstorm! That is about how we felt after we maxed out three credit cards buying hard disks off the back of a truck. That was the first hardware for Google. Parents and friends: more credit cards always help. What is the one sentence summary of how you change the world? Always work hard on something uncomfortably exciting!

As a Ph.D. student, I actually had three projects I wanted to work on. Thank goodness my advisor said, "why don’t you work on the web for a while". He gave me some seriously good advice because the web was really growing with people and activity, even in 1995! Technology and especially the internet can really help you be lazy. Lazy? What I mean is a group of three people can write software that millions can use and enjoy. Can three people answer the phone a million times a day? Find the leverage in the world, so you can be more lazy!

Overall, I know it seems like the world is crumbling out there, but it is actually a great time in your life to get a little crazy, follow your curiosity, and be ambitious about it. Don’t give up on your dreams. The world needs you all!

So here’s my final story:

On a day like today, you might feel exhilarated — like you’ve just been shot out of a cannon at the circus – and even invincible. Don’t ever forget that incredible feeling. But also: always remember that the moments we have with friends and family, the chances we have to do things that might make a big difference in the world, or even to make a small difference to someone you love — all those wonderful chances that life gives us, life also takes away. It can happen fast, and a whole lot sooner than you think.

In late March 1996, soon after I had moved to Stanford for grad school, my Dad had difficultly breathing and drove to the hospital. Two months later, he died. And that was it. I was completely devastated. Many years later, after a startup, after falling in love, and after so many of life’s adventures, I found myself thinking about my Dad. Lucy and I were far away in a steaming hot village walking through narrow streets. There were wonderful friendly people everywhere, but it was a desperately poor place – people used the bathroom inside and it flowed out into the open gutter and straight into the river. We touched a boy with a limp leg, the result of paralysis from polio. Lucy and I were in rural India – one of the few places where Polio still exists. Polio is transmitted fecal to oral, usually through filthy water. Well, my Dad had Polio. He went on a trip to Tennessee in the first grade and caught it. He was hospitalized for two months and had to be transported by military DC-3 back home – his first flight. My Dad wrote, "Then, I had to stay in bed for over a year, before I started back to school". That is actually a quote from his fifth grade autobiography. My Dad had difficulty breathing his whole life, and the complications of Polio are what took him from us too soon. He would have been very upset that Polio still persists even though we have a vaccine. He would have been equally upset that back in India we had polio virus on our shoes from walking through the contaminated gutters that spread the disease. We were spreading the virus with every footstep, right under beautiful kids playing everywhere. The world is on the verge of eliminating polio, with 328 people infected so far this year. Let’s get it done soon. Perhaps one of you will do that.

My Dad was valedictorian of Flint Mandeville High School 1956 class of about 90 kids. I happened across his graduating speech recently, and it blew me away. 53 years ago at his graduation my Dad said: "…we are entering a changing world, one of automation and employment change where education is an economic necessity. We will have increased periods of time to do as we wish, as our work week and retirement age continue to decline. … We shall take part in, or witness, developments in science, medicine, and industry that we can not dream of today. … It is said that the future of any nation can be determined by the care and preparation given to its youth. If all the youths of America were as fortunate in securing an education as we have been, then the future of the United States would be even more bright than it is today."

If my Dad was alive today, the thing I think he would be most happy about is that Lucy and I have a baby in the hopper. I think he would have been annoyed that I hadn’t gotten my Ph.D. yet (thanks, Michigan!). Dad was so full of insights, of excitement about new things, that to this day, I often wonder what he would think about some new development. If he were here today – well, it would be one of the best days of his life. He’d be like a kid in a candy store. For a day, he’d be young again.

Many of us are fortunate enough to be here with family. Some of us have dear friends and family to go home to. And who knows, perhaps some of you, like Lucy and I, are dreaming about future families of your own. Just like me, your families brought you here, and you brought them here. Please keep them close and remember: they are what really matters in life.

Thanks, Mom; Thanks, Lucy.
And thank you, all, very much.

How to Study Effectively?

Hi, this is Laura Turner and today I'm going to tell you about how to study effectively. We've all pretty much been studying since we were three years old and we were first enrolled in school. But a lot of us have not quite learned how to study effectively between how to absorb the things that we're actually reading. I know that a lot of time when I was in middle school i would read things and I would memorize stuff but the next day I would totally forget it. And I would study for a test, and after I took the test I would totally forget all the information that I learned. So hopefully, this advice can help you to not only learn information but also retain it. First of all, plan your time effectively. Organize yourself. Give yourself enough time to study. if you have a big project coming up give yourself at least three days to work on the project in small increments. Make sure you don't sort of force yourself in to that cramming phase, where you actually have to sit down and learn everything in the night. Because if you do that you won't be able to follow the rest of my advice for studying effectively. Number two, if you need help get a tutor or get a friend who could help you, or get your professor to help you, or your teacher or someone who can actually explain the stuff to you again so that you can really figure out what problems you have with the material, and so you can actually learn things that you don't know about rather than just, you know wasting time trying to figure them out on your own and not being able to. Number three, take copious notes in class. This will help you so, so much because not only can you write down the things that you understand and you know but also the things that you don't understand, you need to look at later. The most effective way for studying for me has been that I would take lots of notes in my chicken scratch handwriting, and then I would go through and highlight what I needed to know for a test and then I would take those highlighted notes and I would type them in to my computer. So you're not only reading over your notes trying to figure out what the heck they say because you've written them you know, so badly, which makes you think about what you've written, right. But you're also retyping them so that you actually effectively take notes three times. So that by rewriting your notes, you also memorize them. And that works for me, it may not work for everyone. But that's just something that you can use. So hopefully after you have transposed your notes, and you figure out what you need to know for the test, and you ask your professor or your friend, then you can really start to retain some of the information that you're trying to study instead of just filtering it through and losing it later. So, good luck.

Nghĩa trong bài:
Cramming phase: Giai đoạn nhồi nhét.
Take copious notes: Ghi chép thật nhiều các mẩu ghi nhớ.  
Transpose your notes: đảo đi đảo lại, sắp xếp lại các các mẩu ghi nhớ.
Filter through (idiom): Nuốt vào cái gì.

Europe’s E.Coli Outbreak Still Baffling Scientists

Aaron Schachter: I’m Aaron Schachter. This is the world. Europe’s deadly E. coli Outbreak continues to baffle scientists. Authorities in German say more than 1,700 people have fallen ill in that country alone, at least 18 have died. Cases have turned up across Europe and in the U.S., most among people who recently visited Germany. But the source of the infection remains a mystery. Michael Osterholm is an infectious disease expert at the University of Minnesota. Professor Osterholm, the assumption is that the outbreak started with contaminated vegetables. We’re hearing a report today from a lab in Rome suggesting that is not the case. What is going on?


Michael Osterholm: Well first of all there’s a great deal of misinformation out there about what the source is or isn’t based on laboratory testing of produce. As a disease investigator one of the last places we look is actually the laboratory because in mass-produced food, which may be contaminated at a level of only one or two percent of the product actually having the bacteria on it that’s causing the disease, you can test until you’re blue in the face and not find it. So what really is important is doing what we call the epidemiologic studies where you actually look at what did people who got sick eat and what did people who did not get sick eat. Then doing the comparison there and tracing it back from that.

Schachter: So finding the E. coli bacteria is one thing, doing something about it is something else. German doctors are reportedly giving antibiotics to patients. In America we say no antibiotics. Why the discrepancy?

Osterholm: First of all, I think that this outbreak is going to end very soon regardless of what we find or don’t find because if it is indeed a produce item it’s a perishable food item and it’s gone. Second of all, in terms of the people who are currently sick that is a very critical question: What do you do? Our own experience here in the United States where people have developed this very serious complication of infection with kinds of E. Coli bacteria know that one, don’t give patients antibiotics because when you do that actually causes more of the toxin to enter the body as the bacteria die and are lysed open. Our recommendation would be if you have bloody diarrhea do not take an antibiotic at all. Second of all, if you are already sick with HUS, which involves the kidneys and other parts of the circulatory system, there to again you’re not using antibiotics, you’re using other life support mechanisms. We’re hopeful that the German doctors are doing just that.

Schachter: Professor Michael Osterholm heads the Center for Infectious Disease, Research, and Policy at the University of Minnesota. Professor, thank you for joining us.

Osterholm: Thank you.

China Flexing its Economic Muscle

The text below is a phonetic transcript of a radio story broadcast by PRI’s THE WORLD. It has been created on deadline by a contractor for PRI. The transcript is included here to facilitate internet searches for audio content. Please report any transcribing errors to theworld@pri.org. This transcript may not be in its final form, and it may be updated. Please be aware that the authoritative record of material distributed by PRI’s THE WORLD is the program audio.

Lisa Mullins: With some European countries looking to China for a financial boost, China’s premier had a message for them today.  Wen Jiabo told the World Economic Forum in the northeastern Chinese city of Dalian, he said China is willing to keep investing in other countries, but major economies have to show they’re serious about tackling their debt problems.  The World’s Mary Kay Magistad is at that forum.

Mary Kay Magistad: China has $3 trillion in foreign currency reserves, so it has money that it needs to spend outside of China, and it has been looking for ways to diversify from US treasuries.  So investing in Europe is certainly a good possibility. China also, however, has some economic problems of its own and something else Wen Jiabo said in his speech today was look, you know, we have had double digit economic growth for many years, but the economic model we’ve been pursuing — export driven, infrastructure heavy — is not something we can sustain. So he’s recognizing China’s got big challenges at home that are going to slow its annual growth.  It doesn’t mean that China is not in a position to help, to invest in other countries, it is; but I think European countries that are looking to China as the answer might want to temper their expectations a bit.

Mullins: Because of the slower growth.  How healthy is China’s economy?

Magistad: It depends what you look at.  I mean there’s been something that some people consider a real estate bubble growing bigger and bigger over the last 2-3 years.  There is a demographic shift going on that’s significant where a lot more people will be retiring than entering the workforce starting right around now.  And that will become a more important trend as the next 10-15 years unfold. This is in part due to the fact that China had a baby boom around the same time as the United States did, and then had the one child policy after that.  So bigger generation than usual retiring, smaller generation than usual coming into the workforce, and that’s gonna be a big problem.

Mullins: So is China optimistic about the prospects for the US economy?

Magistad: Well, you know, it was interesting today particularly in contrast to what Wen Jiabo has said in the time since the economic crisis started.  There were a couple of years where he was being you know, kind of challenging to the United States and saying you know, we hope you’re taking care of our money that we’re investing in treasury bonds.  Today, he said look, the US economy and the US as a nation have incredible strengths and we are confident that the US economy will fully recover.  There was sort of a change of message that we realize that beating on the US isn’t helping to build consumer confidence and we, as China, exporting to the US need Americans to buy our stuff.

Mullins: All right, speaking to us from Dalian, China at the World Economic Forum, Mary Kay Magistad, thank you.

Magistad: Thank you, Lisa.

Open source software

Announcer: The e-Learning Lingo Podcast.

Mary Kay Lofurno: Hello, this is Mary Kay Lofurno, Marketing Director here at SyberWorks. Welcome to the 104^th episode of the e-Learning Lingo Podcast Series. Last week Dave Powell talked about Trojan Horses. This week Dave defines Open Source Software.

So I ask you, do you know your e-Learning Lingo?

[theme music]

Mary Kay: Hi, Dave, tell us about open source software.

Dave Powell: Open source software is computer code or scripts for which the original instructions, also known as source code, are widely available for use and modification by anyone with sufficient skills.

Mary Kay: All right. There’s always a lot of chatter floating around about open source software, Dave. Tell us about some of the benefits of open source software.

Dave: The user community can access, modify, and redistribute open source software for little or no cost. The Linux operating system is one of the most widely used pieces of open source software today. Other popular examples include the Open Office application suite and the GIMP image editor.

Mary Kay: All right. Thanks, Dave. Have a great afternoon.

Dave: You too, Mary Kay. Talk to you soon.

Mary Kay: This is Mary Kay Lofurno, Marketing Director at SyberWorks. Thanks for listening to Episode 104 of the e-Learning Lingo Podcast. This week Dave Powell talked about open source software. The Episode 104 podcast audio and transcript will be posted on the e-Learning Lingo Podcast blog.

Next time on the e-Leaning Lingo Podcast, we’ll talk about a term used in learning theory. Until that time, have a great week.

Announcer: SyberWorks Podcast. Learn any time, any place.

[music]

What is lateral thinking?

Mary Kay: OK Dave, so what does ‘lateral thinking’ mean?

David Powell: Lateral thinking, a term coined by Edward de Bono, focuses on working around preconceived concepts and perceptions. It is about reasoning in ways that are not immediately obvious, using ideas that may not be reached through traditional step-by-step logic.

Mary Kay Lofurno: OK Dave. Thanks for that explanation. Have a terrific afternoon.

David Powell: You too, talk with you soon!

I´d like some breakfast, please.

Room service:	—	Room service.
Mary Jones:	—	Good morning. This is room 113. I´d like some breakfast, please.
Room service:	—	Right. Excuse me. Mrs. Jones?
Mary Jones:	—	That´s right.
Room service:	—	What can I do for you?
Mary Jones:	—	I´d like some grapefruit juice, marmalade, two scrambled eggs with two sausages, toast, and a pot of black coffee, please. How long will it take?
Room service:	—	Just a few minutes, ma´am.
Mary Jones:	—	Great. Thank you.

I have a terrible stomachache.

Doctor:	—	Good morning. Please have a seat here. What´s the problem?
Paul Ryefield:	—	I have a terrible stomachache.
Doctor:	—	Do you have diarrhea?
Paul Ryefield:	—	Yes, I do.
Doctor:	—	Do you have any other symptoms?
Paul Ryefield:	—	Yes, I feel sick.
Doctor:	—	You mean you feel nauseous?
Paul Ryefield:	—	That´s right. I feel like vomiting. And right now I feel dizzy, too.
Doctor:	—	When did the symptoms start?
Paul Ryefield:	—	This morning. Yesterday evening I ate something raw.
Doctor:	—	All right. Please take off your clothes to the waist and lie down there. ... Just tell me if it hurts when I do this.
Paul Ryefield:	—	It doesn´t hurt. ... Ouch. It hurts there.
Doctor:	—	Okay. Let´s hope it´s just indigestion, but we´ll need to run some diagnostic tests to be sure. We´ll run a blood test and we´ll also need a urine sample.
Paul Ryefield:	—	Can you give me something for the time being?
Doctor:	—	Yes, I´ll give you a prescription for indigestion tablets.

Education Wage Gap

Moderator: Welcome to Research Insights, an occasional podcast from the Federal Reserve Bank of Atlanta. We're talking today with Julie Hotchkiss, a research economist and policy adviser at the Atlanta Fed, about a recent working paper she co-authored. Her research concerned the wage gap between workers with differing degrees of educational attainment.
Julie, thanks for joining us today.

Julie Hotchkiss: Thanks, Tom.

Moderator: Julie, I'd like to start our conversation today by discussing skill-biased technological change, which you discuss in some detail in your paper. What exactly is skilled-biased technological change [SBTC]?

Hotchkiss: Well, that's a good question, Tom. Skill-biased technological change, or SBTC, is the term used when referring to technological advances that increase the value of more highly skilled workers, or more highly educated workers. It's generally accepted that the advance in computing technology during the 1980s and '90s required a higher-skilled worker to take advantage of the advances in the production process. An example of a technological change that favors lower-skilled workers was the introduction of the assembly line in the early 1900s. This technological change resulted in the replacement of skilled craftsmen with workers requiring very little skill to assemble automobiles, for example.

Moderator: Right. Julie, there's a debate over the role of skills-biased technological changes as the source of the growing wage gap. What did your research indicate regarding the role of SBTC?

Hotchkiss: Well, we found that skill-biased technological change has played an important role in the growing earnings differentials between more- and less-educated workers. While many other studies have come to the same conclusion, ours is unique in that it puts the SBTC theory up against other possible explanations for that growing earnings gap. For example, others have hypothesized that declining unionization rates put downward pressure on wages of less-educated workers since less-educated workers are more likely to be employed in occupations that are unionized. We found that declining rates of unionization did put downward pressure on wages of workers with little education, but it was really just a drop in the bucket and its influence was swamped by the impact of SBTC.

Moderator: OK, right. Well, if the demand for skilled labor increases, causing more people to seek an advanced education, shouldn't that lead to more educated workers and, therefore, a narrowing skill wage gap?

Hotchkiss: Well, this is the obvious natural consequence of increased rewards going to the college educated. As the demand increases, wages for the college educated are driven up, which increases the incentive of people to attain a college degree. And there's generally consensus that supply is responding to increased demand, but that it's not kept up. Some evidence of the market re-gaining some sort of equilibrium, though, is that the growth in the wage gap between workers with a high school and college degree slowed in the 1990s. The wage gap grew by 12 percentage points in the 1980s, but by just over half of that (7 percentage points) during the 1990s. We have yet to investigate what's happened during the most recent decade, but that investigation should tell us even further whether supply of college workers is continuing to catch up with demand.

Moderator: That will be interesting. Julie, you've attempted to decompose the composition of groups of workers and how their characteristics translate into wages. What kinds of factors did you look at in this decomposition process, such as immigration, mobility, or unemployment rates?

Hotchkiss: Well, previous work that investigated what factors might be contributing to the growing wage gap between high school- and college-educated workers typically focused on one or two contributors only. Our primary goal in this paper was to essentially run a racehorse. If measures of all the factors identified by others are included in the same analysis, which one wins? In other words, which factors are most important in explaining the growth in the wage gap?

Some of the factors that we included in this analysis, in addition to changes in technological investments and usage, included the increased immigration of low-skilled workers and decreasing rates of unionization, which I just mentioned—both of which can be expected to put downward pressure on the wages of high school graduates. We also included information about the share of workers in the labor market with the same education level. The presence of a larger number of college graduates, for example, might put downward pressure on wages for all college graduates. As it turns out, college graduates seem to benefit in terms of earnings from a concentration of college graduates in the same labor market. There seems to be a complementarity of skills that generate higher earnings. In other words, the value of the total is greater than the sum of each individual's value. This, however, does not seem to be the case for less-educated workers.

Moderator: In your paper, you talk a great deal about the role of computers in the wage gap. What sort of effects did computers have on the wage gap over the years, and has this effect varied over time, becoming greater in some decades than others?

Hotchkiss: Well, the use of computers at work appears to have been the driving force behind the growth in the earnings of college graduates, relative to high school graduates. Besides just our observation of the growing use of computers in the '80s and '90s, we do have evidence from two different surveys. One survey is from the Bureau of Economic Analysis that reports the expenditures that firms make each year on computer software. This expenditure increased by more than 220 percent in each decade of the 1990s and the 1980s. In contrast, investments in computer software increased by only 131 percent in the 1970s. In addition, the Bureau of Labor Statistics has done some special surveys of workers, asking them whether they use a computer at home or at work. While these figures are not available in the 1970s, we see that the probability of using a computer at work increased from 23 percent in 1980 to 51 percent in 2000, and the figure is much higher among college graduates, of course. Also, while 57 percent of workers used a computer at home in 1990, 81 percent did so in 2000. So you can see that the use of computers has just exploded, which I guess really won't be much of a surprise to anybody.

Moderator: No, I wouldn't think so. Julie, could you discuss how technology has affected wages of less-educated workers?

Hotchkiss: Well, any production process requires a mix of skills. As technology allows us to produce more output, demand for all levels of skills increases. Workers with less education who are not directly making use of the new technology are what we call complementary to more educated workers who do use greater and greater amounts of technology. At the same time that the demand for college-educated workers was increasing because firms needed workers to meet their growing use of technology, the demand for less-educated workers was also increasing in order to support the growing output. However, the demand for less-educated workers did not grow quite as fast as that for more educated workers, which is one of the main reasons we see the growth in the gap between wages of these two groups of workers.
Moderator: Julie, you note in your paper that different decades experienced different rates of growth in the wage gap. Could you summarize what factors give each decade its own character?
Hotchkiss: Well, technology has had the biggest positive influence on the wage gap in both decades, but in slightly different ways. During both decades the demand from employers and the increased use of computers at work served as the largest influence, pushing wages of college educated workers higher. During the 1990s, employers also increased the value they placed on workers, particularly college workers, using computers at home, which really just means the skills that they brought to the workforce from that use of computers at home. But it was also during the 1990s when the complimentary influence of technological change kicked in, increasing the demand for certain occupations held mostly by high school-educated workers. This effect worked to dampen the boost that college grads got from their increased technology use.

Moderator: Julie, my last question to you concerns the belief among some segments of the population that immigrant workers have depressed wages for less-educated workers. Did your research find immigrant labor to have much of an effect on the wage gap?

Hotchkiss: You're right, Tom. Much of the concern in recent years, at least before the most recent recession, has been related to the growth in undocumented immigrants, the majority of whom arrive with very little education. In fact, the number of undocumented immigrants in the U.S. increased by roughly 140 percent during the 1990s and by an additional 40 percent since 2000. This increased supply is expected to put downward pressure on the wages of all low-skilled workers, which would have the impact of increasing the wage gap. We found, however, that compared to the other influences on the wage gap, immigration of low-skill workers contributed very little—an impact less than 2 percent of the size of the impact of technology, for example.

Moderator: Julie, thanks so much for talking with us today.

Hotchkiss: You're welcome, Tom. It was my pleasure.

Moderator: Again, we've been speaking with Julie Hotchkiss of the Atlanta Fed's Research Department. This concludes our Research Insights podcast on the education wage gap. Thanks for listening, and please return for more podcasts.

Idiom: Take sides

Aaliyah is a very intimidating woman. She can change her mind like the wind. Her husband knows this and he treats her with respect. She does not like to take sides. Her husband asked her for her opinion about a problem in the town, and she said "I will not comment, that's flat!" Then the town leader came and asked for her opinion, and that was a different kettle of fish. Her husband is worried sick, because he doesn't know what she said to the leader. Aaliyah is a very intimidating woman. 


Nghĩa trong bài:
Intimidating woman: người phụ nữ ghê gớm.
 

Idioms list 
1. that's flat: that's final, there is to be no more discussion or argument
2. take sides:  to support a particular group or person etc against another, not to remain neutral
3. like the wind:  very quickly
4. a different kettle of fish:  something completely different
5. worried sick:  extremely anxious and worried

How Does Minimum Wage Affect the Economy?

Hello my name is Arielle Reid in Budapest, Hungary and I will discuss how minimum wage affects the economy. Now in a very general sense minimum wage can be understood as an artificial setting of the cost of labor. Now when the cost of labor goes up what ends up happening is you get an increase in the cost of production. So if instead of making one dollar an hour, I'm making two dollars an hour. Well the cost besides the material and the other equipment being used of making sweaters lets say, goes up by one dollar because minimum wage has gone up one dollar. An increase in the cost of production produces an increase in the cost, the overall cost of the product. Now with an overall increase in the cost of the product, you can have two very different, you can have two similar but different scenarios. Number one you get less profit because people buy less of the profit.. people buy less of the commodity because it's more expensive or two you get less profit because the producer ends up absorbing the higher costs. Now when the producer absorbs that higher cost, there's less money to reinvest in his business to help it grow to increase productivity. And for this reason there are some people that believe that a minimum wage or an increase in minimum wage is bad for the economy, the growth of the economy and slows it down. But there are certain situations where instituting a minimum wage is actually beneficial. So in a situation where labor costs are being sold below market price, what they call a monopolistic labor market. A minimum wage used effectively can actually help increase productivity. And actually help the economy to grow. But all this points to one thing. It's that labor markets so minimum wage and the way that the market responds to minimum wage is not a simple supply and demand model. There are always sectors of production that aren't touched by minimum wage legislation. Self employed workers, in some service industries like farming, and some other protected industries the minimum wage legislation doesn't extend. Which means that you are not dealing with one big large labor market, you are dealing with two labor markets that respond very differently, one that has a minimum wage legislation and one that doesn't. Thus minimum wage legislation in one sector will also affect production and consumption of products in the other sector. So once again minimum wage labor markets aren't a simple supply and demand equation like outlined here. However, getting the basics down will help you understand the more complex dynamics of politics, minimum wage legislation and the economy.

Listening to the professor given an introductory lecture of economy class

In this course, we will look at the basic problems every economy must face: "what" goods shall be produced and "for whom" goods shall be produced. We will look at how a modern mixed economy solves the problems of supply and demand by relying on a system of markets and prices.

Basically, the system goes something like this: consumers are like voters. They use their money votes to buy what they want. Your votes compete with my votes over the goods we both want to buy. The consumers with the most dollar votes have the most influence over "what" gets produced and "to whom" goods go. We will examine how this spending of money votes operates in a market system. In other words, we will examine the theory of supply and demand. We will look at how these two central forces-supply and demand-are brought into balance by the price of goods.

Let's consider demand. It is generally held that the quantity of a particular good that people will buy depends on its price. The higher the price, the less of it people will want to buy. The lower the price, the more people will want to buy. Now, about supply: there is one major factor underlying the supply of a good, and that is the cost of producing that good.

I've just given you the briefest summary of market economics. Tomorrow we will look at just how demand and supply work in the real world and how the market price of a good comes at the point where the amount of a good that consumers wish to buy is equal to the amount sellers wish to sell.

To Catch On to Phrasal Verbs, It Helps to Hook Up With an English Teacher

AA: I'm Avi Arditti with Rosanne Skirble, and this week on Wordmaster -- English teacher Lida Baker joins us from Los Angeles to talk about phrasal verbs.

RS: The first word is a verb. The second word, sometimes even a third, is usually a preposition.

AA: Phrasal verbs, also known as two-word verbs, have a reputation for being tough for English learners. So what does Lida Baker think?

LB: "I think that is a myth."

RS: "Really."

LB: "Phrasal verbs are not hard to learn, as long as you learn them in a context. I think what has given phrasal verbs a reputation for being difficult is the way they are traditionally taught, which is that students are given long lists of verbs -- you know, for instance every phrasal verb connected with the word 'go.' So 'go on,' 'go up,' 'go out,' 'go in,' 'go away,' 'go through,' OK? That's a very tedious way of learning anything."

RS: "Well, give us some of your strategies."

LB: "All right. Well, one thing we should keep in mind about phrasal verbs is that they are used a lot more in conversational English than they are in formal English. So you are going to find a lot of phrasal verbs in conversational settings such as ... "

RS: "Come on [laughter]."

LB: " ... television programs, radio interviews, and pop music is a wonderful, wonderful source for phrasal verbs. I think the best way to learn, or one of the best ways of learning phrasal verbs is to learn them in everyday contexts. One good one is people's daily routine. We 'get up' in the morning, we 'wake up,' we 'put on' our clothes in the morning, we 'take off' our clothes at the end of the day, we 'turn on' the coffee maker or the television set, and of course we 'turn it off' also. After we eat we 'clean up.' If we're concerned about our health and our weight, we go to the gym and we ... "

RS: "Work out."

LB: "There you go. You see, so as far as our daily routine is concerned, there are lots and lots of phrasal verbs. Another wonderful context for phrasal verbs is traveling. What does an airplane do?"

AA: "It 'takes off.'"

LB: "It 'takes off,' that's right. And lots of phrasal verbs connected with hotels. So when we get to the hotel we 'check in,' and you can save a lot of money if you ... "

RS: "Stay -- "

LB: "'Stay over,' right."

AA: "And you just have to make sure you don't get 'ripped off.'"

LB: "That's right! I'm glad that you mentioned 'ripped off,' because a lot of phrasal verbs are slang, such as ripped off. And most of them do have sort of a formal English equivalent. So to get ripped off means to be treated unfairly ... "

AA: "To be cheated."

LB: "To be cheated, yeah. And there are lot of other two-word or phrasal verbs that you might find, for instance, in rap
music. For example, to 'get down' means to, uh -- what does it mean?"

RS: "It means to party, doesn't it?"

LB: "To go to parties."

AA: "Have a good time."

LB: "Right. Another wonderful context is dating and romance. For example, when a relationship ends two people 'break up.' But when they decide that they've made a mistake and they really are in love and want to be together, they 'call each other up' ... "

RS: "And they 'make up.'"

LB: "And they make up. Now, if your boyfriend 'breaks up' with you and it's really, really over, then it might take you a few months to 'get over it.' But, you know, sooner or later you're going to find someone else ... "

AA: "To 'hook up' with -- "

LB: "To hook up with."

AA: " -- to use a current idiom."

LB: "Right. Or you might meet someone nice at work to 'go out with.'"

RS: "So what would you recommend for a teacher to do, to build these contexts, so that the students can learn from them?"

LB: "I think the best thing for a teacher to do, or for a person learning alone, is to learn the idioms in context. And there are vocabulary books and idiom books that will cluster the phrasal verbs for the student. There are also so many wonderful Web sites. I mean, if you go to a search engine and you just type in 'ESL + phrasal verbs,' you're going to run across -- and there's another one, 'run across' -- you're going to find lots of Web sites that present phrasal verbs in these contexts that I've been talking about. And also grammar sites which explain the grammar of phrasal verbs, which I haven't gotten into because we just don't have the time to discuss it here. But in doing my research for this segment I found lots of Web sites that do a really great job of explaining the grammar of phrasal verbs."

AA: Lida Baker writes and edits textbooks for English learners.

RS: And you can find other segments with Lida Baker at voanews.com/wordmaster.

AA: And that's WORDMASTER for this week. With Rosanne Skirble, I'm Avi Arditti.

What is your dreamhouse?

Samir, Sweden
Oh, my dream house? It is on the beach. You have a great view of the ocean and the beach, and it should be really big - a big house - with maybe an elevator, and maybe at least three cars and a cinema in the house as well. That would be cool.

Cheryl, Guam
If I had a dream house, I think that would first of all be next to the ocean. I love the ocean. Secondly, it would probably have really high ceilings because I like places that are very airy and big and spacious. Thirdly, my dream house would definitely have a jacuzzi, a hot tub: something like that, and a very big, big bathroom and a big balcony.

Jonathan, Canada
To describe my dream house: it would actually be very simple. It would probably be as small a apartment in a large city that was very strong on points of culture - maybe in Barcelona or some city like that. It would probably be a simple apartment in an entertainment, nightlife district with lots of culture around and a very lively scene.

Emily, Djibouti
My dream house? I don't want a big, big house, just as long as it's surrounded my nature. I don't wanna live in a modern country or a big cities like New York or Tokyo. I prefer quite places where you can really meditate and live your life fully.

Demelza, Australia
My dream house would be two stories high. It would be made of wooden floor boards and plan white walls, and I think it would have a Thai style decor.

 
Hoa, Vietnam
My dream house? I would like to have my house near the beach because I like swimming, I like going to the beach, and I then a lot of windows, so my house should have a lot of windows, so that I can see. I can have a view to the ocean, and it should be far away from the city because I want to enjoy myself and stay away from the noise.

5 different people talking about the way they study

Speaker 1 (Girl):
I must say, I’ve never found it easy to study at home. I’ve tried all sorts of places. One of my friends prefers to study outside, lying on a rug in the garden.

I try that from time to time and it’s nice and airy, though my concentration tends to wander a bit and I find I’m looking at the trees, or people passing by, rather than at my notes. I think better in my bedroom, where it’s nice and quite. I’ve got a large desk there to put my computer on, and I set my alarm early and work with a fresh mind before everyone else’s up.

Speaker 2 (Boy):
You know how sociable I am normally? Well, it’s strange but I find people taking really puts me off when I’m trying to study, so I hardly every work with a classmate, although it’s much more fun. You’d think that the faculty library would be the best place for me then – an academic atmostphere and no distractions. You always get a few people wishpering and coughing though and that annoys me. What I frequently do instead now is put on my personal stereo and have something blasting away, it doesn’t matter what. That blocks out everything else and I get through the work in no time.

Speaker 3 (Girl):
When I do my homework I have to feel right. After sitting on a hard chair all day, I need to stretch out with my head on a pillow. Mum says I cannot possibly concentrate like that, but actually I don’t fall asleep as long as I don’t go on too late and I have the window open to get some fresh air. I’d love to work with music on, a lot of my friends do, and they say it really helps them concentrate. The point is I like music too much – it takes over from whatever I’m supposed to be doing.

Speaker 4 (Boy):
I’m hopeless at doing school projects. I make timetables so that I can complete the project well before the deadline, but I don’t stick to them. I’ve tried everything – strong coffee, quiet rooms, fresh air. Even though I’m wide awake and there’s nothing to disturb me, the work still doesn’t get done. I was getting really worried last week, when Mary came around and asked if she could work in my room – hers is too dark and stuffy. I’ve never worked with a friend before and so I said ‘No’, but she was desperate. Eventually, I gave in and it really worked out for us both. I couldn’t believe it!

Speaker 5 (Girl):
I really like some of the subjects I’m doing this year, particularly maths and physics. I don’t mind studying them at all, although some of the homework assignments we’re given are quite tricky, so I need to be able to work undisturbed. That’s often a bit difficult in our hourse, unless I put it off until everyone’s in bed. Did you know that my younger brother, Fred, plays the guitar in a band? I love some of their music, it’s really cool, you’d love it too, but it’s pointless trying to work when he’s playing.

False friends: What difference does it make between Effective and Efficient?

Well Hervé, thank you very much for your question. Your question in fact relates to the topic of false friends. These are words in a foreign language which seem similar to words in your own language. However, in fact they have a different meaning in the foreign language, so they're not really friends, they're false friends.

English is a language that has developed from Germanic and Latin languages, and it has also adopted words from other languages such as Hindi and Urdu. Because English has, in part, developed from Latin, and so has French, there are many similar looking or sounding words. And this is the problem that Hervé has with 'effective' and 'efficient'. In French there are similar sounding words, but the meanings are not exactly the same.

In English, 'effective' means that something produces results or an effect. It does what it is supposed to do. 'Efficient' means that something is done in a good way, without wasting time, money or energy. For example, a car with an effective engine will move, because the engine does what it is supposed to do. It produces results. It moves the car.

A car with an efficient engine is a car that travels a long way without using a lot of petrol. It is efficient, it doesn't waste energy.

It seems from what Hervé says, that the French word efficient' is more similar to 'effective' than the similar sounding 'efficient'. However, I am not a French expert, so I?ll leave him to decide.

A couple of other examples of these false friends include 'sympathetic' and 'sensible'. 'Sympathetic' is a false friend for the French and 'sensible' is a false friend for the Spanish.

I hope my explanation has been effective, and that I have made it in an efficient way.

Listening to idioms - Part I

Land on feet
Meaning: To be lucky or successful after you have been in a difficult situation.
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Listen to the following conversation:
- You know who I ran into yesterday? Lenny Ramos!
- Lenny, our former programmer? What's he doing these days?
- He was out of work for three months after he got laid off here, but now he has a new job with Banana Computers. He loves it, and he's making more money.
- Good for him! He's such a hard worker, I knew he'd land on his feet.

Cut corners
Meaning: To do something in the easiest, quickest, or cheapest way, often harming the quality of your work.
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Example:
The company cut corners on the new product by using a less expensive part in the design.
We have to find a way to cut corners on this project because we've gone over our budget.

Dying to do something
Meaning: Want to do something very, very much.
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Example:
(the vowel is exaggerated)
-I'm dyyyying to go to the party = I really want to go to the party.
-I'm staaaaaarving = I am really hungry.
-I'm freeeezing = I'm really cold.

One of those days
Meaning: If we have "one of those days", we have a very bad day when many things go wrong. If we have "one of those days", nothing seems to go right.
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Example sentences:

1. It's one of those days.
2. I'm having one of those days.
3. It was one of those days.

Example dialogue:

A: How are things going today, Jimmy?
B: Not so good, to tell you the truth.
A: Why not? What's the problem?
B: I don't know. It's just one of those days.

Practice:

When was the last time you had "one of those days"?

Low hanging fruit
Meaning: Something that is easy to get/ do .
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Examples: He always goes after the low hanging fruit because those are the quickest sales. Let's concentrate on the low hanging fruit first, then we'll get quick results. Pronunciation: Let's get the LOW hanging fruit first.

Sing a different tune
Thay đổi giọng điệu. Thay đổi thái độ.
Meaning: To change one's manner, usually from bad to good. (Almost the same as dance to another tune.)
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Audio example:
Mike has been saying all over town the quarrel is all my fault. He is lying, and when my lawyer gets finished with him, I guarantee he’ll be singing a different tune.

Anther example:
When she learned that I was a bank director, she began to sing a different tune.

Sing the blues
Than thân trách phận
Meaning: To complain
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Audio example:
Bob‘s still singing the blues about losing his girlfriend six months ago. I guess the poor guy didn’t realize how much he cared for her until she walked out on him.

Anther example:
Computer programmers are singing the blues because business is bad and no one is hiring.

A feather in your cap
Thành tích xuất sắc
Meaning: A success or achievement that may help you in the future.
View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Audio example:
Congratulations, Sarah! I'm so proud of you. A real feather in your cap. I know how hard you worked. This makes you the first doctor we've ever had in our family.

Beating around the bush
Vòng vo tam quốc.
Meaning: Not getting to the point. Not dealing with the major issues, not talking about the real subject.

Example: If you want to ask me, just ask; don't beat around the bush.

View audio example >>

View the transcript >>

Thí dụ sau nói về tính cách của người "thẳng tính" (direct) và người khéo tính (indirect).
Audio example:

Your direct person would be more likely to say, "Vote for Johnson." Direct people -- they get straight to the point. No bones about it. They don't beat around the bush. They're very aggressive. They know what they want. They know what they want to say and they know what they want to get done. Whereas your indirect person might say something like, "Well, I think that maybe we should consider voting for Johnson. Or, maybe as a group, we should talk about voting for Johnson." They're a lot more indirect. They're a lot less aggressive and they're much more interested in involving the group to get a decision, where a direct person knows exactly what they want.

Idiom updates is continuing on...