
به نام آنکه به قلم ســوگند یاد کرد
سلام بازدیدکننده ی عزیز
به وب آموزشی انگلیش سنتر خوش آمدید.
در این سایت مطالب در موضوعات زیر ارائه می شود
انگلیسی مقدماتی، واژگان انگلیسی، آموزش گرامر،مکالمات کاربردی، مهارتهای مطالعه، مهارتهای نوشتن، نامه نگاری انگلیسی،فن ترجمه، نمونه سوالات انگلیسی، داستان انگلیسی، جملات عاشقانه، جملات زیبای انگلیسی، شعر انگلیسی، ضرب المثل، اخبار انگلیسی، اس ام اس انگلیسی، دین و مذهب، دیکشنری، ویدیو، ترانه همراه متن، فلش، نرم افزار، آیلتس و تافل، کتاب و مجلات، جوک و لطیفه، مطالعه، بازی، عکس، سلامت
wWw.English-Center.IR
کپي برداري از مطالب سایت با ذکر منبع بلامانع مي باشد




ناآشنایی اکثر ایرانیان با زبان انگلیسی
از کلاس دوم راهنمایی تا پایان دبیرستان و دوره پیش دانشگاهی، 6 سال زبان انگلیسی می خوانیم و در دانشگاه نیز همه رشته ها ، زبان انگلیسی عمومی و تخصصی خاص خودشان را دارند. با این حال، وقتی فارغ التحصیل می شویم، اکثرمان از خواندن یک صفحه روزنامه انگلیسی زبان یا 5 دقیقه صحبت کردن با یک فرد خارجی یا نوشتن دو سطر نامه بدون غلط املایی و گرامری به زبان انگلیسی عاجزیم.
جالب و البته تاسف انگیز اینجاست که این ناتوانی علمی، فقط ویژه دیپلمه ها و لیسانس ها نیست بلکه بخش قابل توجهی از کسانی که مدرک دکتری (حتی واقعی) هم دارند، بدین معضل دچارند و نکته اینجاست که برای ورود به دوره دکتری باید انگلیسی را در حد تافل بلد باشند ولی اینکه چگونه حتی بعد از گرفتن دکتری نیز دو کلمه نمی توانند انگلیسی بخوانند و بنویسند و صحبت کنند، از عجایب روزگار است.
برای مطالعه متن کامل به ادامه مطلب مراجه کنید
Eating White Rice Increases Risk of Diabetes
خوردن برنج سفید خطر دیابت را افزایش می دهد
Download (MP3)
Rice is an important part of many people’s diets. Researchers from the Harvard School of Public Health in Massachusetts have released a report about rice. It shows that eating white rice increases the risk of type two diabetes. However, eating brown rice reduces the risk of the disease.
The World Health Organization says more than two hundred twenty million people worldwide have diabetes. Type two diabetes results when the body cannot effectively use the sugar it produces.
برای مطالعه متن کامل به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
New research on the power of smiling
پژوهش تازه درباره قدرت لبخند
همه می دانیم که لبخند به لب داشتن در هنگامی که با اشخاص تازه آشنا می شویم تا چه حد مهم است. ولی یک بررسی جدید نشان می دهد که اشکال مختلف لبخند، در این که مردم در باره ما چه فکر می کنند تاثیر می گذارد.
There are any number of sayings about the power of the smile. 'Peace begins with a smile.' 'A smile is the universal welcome.' 'Life is short but a smile only takes a second.' All good advice. But it may not be as simple as that. According to new research, if you want to make a good impression when you meet people, it's not just that you smile. It's how you smile.
The study was carried out by the Go Group, a business support organisation based in Scotland. They looked at people's reactions to different grins. They found that responses varied considerably.
Through this they say they have found three types of smile to avoid: The first is 'The Enthusiast', very wide, all teeth showing, possible evidence that you can have too much of a good thing. Then there is the 'Big Freeze', a fixed grin that looks practised and fake. Finally comes 'The Robot', a small, thin smile, lacking in warmth.
The group also warns about smiling too quickly, saying it can make you look insincere. The best smile, they say, is slower and floods naturally across the whole face.
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Oil Spill Puts Fisheries, Birds at Risk Along US Gulf Coast
American officials have suspended all fishing in parts of the Gulf of Mexico for at least ten days because of the huge oil spill. The restrictions will give scientists time to study the effects on seafood in the gulf.
Sunday's order extended from the mouth of the Mississippi River in Louisiana east to waters of Pensacola Bay in Florida. The affected waters include areas off the coasts of Mississippi and Alabama.
متن کامل همراه با فایل صوتی در ادامه مطلب
ملوان نوجوان ممکن است رکورد نشکند
Record blow for teenage sailor
دختر شانزده ساله استرالیایی تقریبا سفر دریایی دور دنیای خود را به پایان رسانده است. اما این احتمال وجود دارد که مسافت دریانوردی او به اندازه ای نباشد که بتواند رکورد جوانترین دریانورد را که توانسته است به تنهایی با قایق دنیا را دور بزند، از آن خود کند.
After more than six months at sea Jessica Watson is in the final stretch of her epic voyage around the globe. She's hoping to reach Sydney Harbour later this month a couple of days shy of her seventeenth birthday.
But although there's no question that she's circumnavigated the globe, sailing experts say she hasn't gone far enough to claim the record of being the youngest person to sail solo non-stop and unassisted around the world.
The influential Sail World website has praised her heroic achievement but is a stickler for the rules of what it calls "true circumnavigation". To have achieved that, it says, the teenager should have sailed much farther north into the Atlantic to a point in line with France, rather than simply crossing the Equator and then returning south.
"We don't want to take away from what the kid's done," said the editor of the website "but it's one thing to be a hero and another to be a record holder. Had she sailed three thousand seven hundred kilometres further she could have made that boast."
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Child directs air traffic at JFK
هدایت ترافیک هوایی فرودگاه جان اف کندی، توسط یک کودک
مقامات آمریکایی در حال تحقیق در این باره اند که چگونه به یک پسر بچه اجازه داده شده هدایت هواپیماها در فرودگاه جان اف کندی نیویورک را به دست بگیرد. خلبانان هواپیماها با کمال تعجب صدای یک پسر بچه را شنیدند که از برج مراقبت فرودگاه آنان راهدایت می کرد.
JFK Airport in New York is one of the largest airports in the country, handling nearly a thousand take-offs and landings a day. But just after 8pm on the 16th of February, there was somebody else in the control tower directing air traffic and giving instructions to pilots.
Recording from air traffic control:
Boy: JetBlue 171 clear for take off
Pilot: Clear for take off JetBlue 171
The boy was speaking to an airbus A320 heading for Sacramento. The child's father, who is a certifited controller, brought his son to work and then put him to work as well.
Recording from air traffic control:
Boy: JetBlue 171 contact departure.
Pilot: Over to departure JetBlue 171. Awesome job.
The young boy continued directing pilots for several take-offs, pilots appearing to be more amused than worried.
The Federal Aviation Administration, which regulates Americas airports, hasn't released the names of the controllers involved but it's not treating it as a joke. It's investigating the controller, as well as his supervisor. Both have been relieved of their duties.
Some are saying the incident is being blown out of proportion since the youngster was repeating standard routine directions to pilots with the adults, presumably, alongside him. It's been revealed the controller in question brought his daughter in the following evening.
The FAA has released a statement saying "This lapse in judgement not only violated the FAA's own policies but common sense standards for professional conduct. These kinds of distractions are totally unacceptable."
James Gordon, BBC News, New York
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
China's economy is growing
اقتصاد چین در حال رشد است
تازه ترین آمار اقتصادی چین نشان دهنده این است که بهبود اقتصادی این کشور با سرعت بیشتری صورت می گیرد. از این آمار چنین نتیجه گیری می شود که افزایش تولیدات صنعتی، فعالیت های خرده فروشی و سرمایه گذاری در این کشور، در ماه های اخیر بیشتر از حد انتظار بوده است.
China's economy has recovered earlier and more strongly than any other. This latest data is further evidence of that trend. The rise in industrial output confirms what factory owners have been saying for some time now, that customers have been restocking their inventories and confidence is returning.
There are still question marks though over the stability of the recovery. The property sector is showing signs of overheating. The government this week announced measures to try to cool it. At the same time officials decided to extend tax subsidies for purchases of small vehicles and appliances suggesting that some here still believe Chinese manufacturers need government support.
Growth was strongest in heavy industries such as coal, steel, power generation and automobiles. Consumer prices rose in November for the first time since February. But the rise was small and probably reflected higher food prices caused by early snowstorms which destroyed crops and disrupted transport.
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Earthquake in Haiti
زلزله در هائیتی
سازمان ملل متحد می گوید زلزه قوی در هائیتی به دفتر این سازمان در هائیتی خسارات جدی وارد کرده است. هنوز از شمار تلفات کارمندان دفتر سازمان ملل متحد در هائیتی اطلاعی در دست نیست. حدود 250 نفر در نمایندگی سازمان ملل متحد در هائیتی کار می کنند.
UN officials said some 250 people worked in the headquarters of the peacekeeping mission which has collapsed. They said the head of the mission was inside the building and remains unaccounted for, but the earthquake struck around 5 o'clock in the afternoon, so it's not clear how many others were still present.
UN troops have surrounded the ruins and are trying to rescue those trapped in the rubble; other United Nations buildings have also been damaged, but details are scarce because of disrupted communications. The peacekeeping force numbers around 11,000 people, including civilian personnel; it's located in different parts of the country, and was deployed in 2004 to bring order following an armed insurrection against then president Jean Bertrand Aristide.
The blow to the UN's services on the ground may slow relief and rescue efforts for the Haitian people, but its humanitarian department is sending emergency response teams and releasing emergency funds. The Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon has said he's shocked at the scale of the devastation and has made initial contacts to encourage a coordinated international response.
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Beijing hit by record snowfall
بارش بی سابقه برف در پکن
در اثر بارش یک برف سنگین بی سابقه در پکن پایتخت چین، مدارس این شهر تعطیل شده است. بارش برف همچنین موجب لغو بسیاری از پروازهای بین المللی در این کشور شده است. از سال 1951 تا کنون، این سنگین ترین برفی است که در پکن آمده است.
Thousands were left stranded for a second day after the cold weather brought severe disruption to transport across the country.
Some 30 highways have closed in the north of China and in Beijing the city's Capital airport saw 90% of flights cancelled or delayed on Sunday. By early Monday, around 40% of flights had been disrupted.
In some parts of Beijing, 33cm of snow fell, the heaviest in more than half a century. Volunteers have taken to the streets with snow-shovels to clearthe drifts. School children saw their new year holiday extended by the severe weather. Here and in neighbouring Tianjin they were given the day off.
More snow is expected across the north of China, although Beijing is expected to remain clear, but temperatures in the capital, already at minus 14, could drop even further.
به کلمات گوش بدهيد
left stranded
سرگردان ماندند
severe disruption
مختل شدن جدی وضعیت، در اینجا: مسدود شدن جاده ها و لغو پرواز هواپیماها و تاخیر در برنامه رفت و آمد قطارها
Some
در اینچا: نزدیک به......، حدود.....
Volunteers
داوطلبان
snow-shovels
پاروی برف روبی
the drifts
انبوه برف های جمع شده، توده برف ها
extended
ادامه یافت
could drop even further
در اینجا: درجه سرما ممکن است حتی بیشتر کاهش یابد
10 جایی كه هركس مي تواند ميليونر شود !
10 Places Where Everyone Can Be A Millionaire!
Who wants to be a millionaire… for under $200? Come on, even your momcould afford that. Might we suggest a trip to the following places…
10. Zambia
Exchange Rate: US$1 = 4,669 Kwacha
Highest Value Banknote: 50,000 ($10.70)
To give you an idea of how weak the Kwacha is, although there are still some 20 Kwacha notes (worth about 0.00021 US cents) in circulation, such is the rarity and worthlessness of this note, most major retailers round up prices to the nearest fifty. It only takes $214 worth of kwacha to declare oneself officially a millionaire in Zambia.
متن کامل در ادامه مطلب
New guidelines for fighting HIV
دستورالعمل های تازه برای مبارزه با ویروس اچ آی وی
سازمان جهانی بهداشت به مناسبت روز جهانی مبارزه با بیماری ایدز،دستور العمل های تازه ای برای مداوای بیماران آلوده به ویروس اچ آی وی، صادر کرده است. اجرای این دستورالعمل ها شمار بیمارانی که داروهای مداواکننده عفونت های ناشی ازویروس اچ آی وی، را مصرف می کنند در حد زیادی افزایش خواهد داد.
At the moment, four million people around the world receive anti-retroviral drugs. There's another five million who need them but don't get them.
The WHO recommendations on when to start treatment for HIV would mean an extra three to five million people would be added to that waiting list. The WHO wants people who have HIV to start drugs before their immune systems get so weak they start displaying symptoms. A study recently published in the medical journal The Lancet showed starting treatment at the newly recommended level could increase survival by nearly 70%.
It would also add significantly to the cost on health care systems. In South Africa, which has one of the biggest HIV burdens in the world, currently fewer than half of the people who should be receiving HIV drugs get them.
Poor health infrastructure is a common problem for nearly all developing countries. Putting HIV-positive people on drugs earlier would significantly reduce the cost to health systems of treating opportunistic infections - illnesses which take hold while the immune system is weak. It would also greatly improve life expectancy of HIV patients, with repercussions for families and the workforce.
The WHO is still working out how much it would cost countries to improve their treatment regimes, but it won't be cheap.
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Hunger in India
گرسنگی در هند
در گزارشی که اخیرا در باره نحوه مبارزه کشورهای در حال توسعه با گرسنگی انتشار یافته، از هند به شدت انتقاد شده است. این گزارش حاکی از این است که با وجود این که هند یکی از اقتصادهای نوظهور جهان است در مقایسه با دهه 1990، به تعداد گرسنگان این کشور 30 میلیون نفر اضافه شده است.
India may be one of the world's fastest growing economies but the benefit of its growing prosperity is not reaching everyone. According to the ActionAid report, 46% of its children are malnourished and the number of people growing hungry is increasing instead of coming down.
It's not that India doesn't grow enough food - in fact it's a major exporter of farm produce. The problem is that many people, especially poor communities, cannot access it for a variety of reasons, including rising food prices and poor distribution.
Government schemes, such as mandatory school meals, have not been effectively implemented across the country. And large-scale migration of people seeking work or displaced by large development schemes, such as dams or industrial projects, is adding to the problem. Invariably women and children are the most vulnerable.
But there are some positive signs. A landmark rural jobs programme launched four years ago is showing some signs of success in battling poverty. Analysts say it now needs to be persisted with and spread out to more parts of the country.
Sanjoy Majumder, BBC News, Delhi
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Multitasking harmful to productivity
انجام همزمان چند کار، به بهره وری لطمه می زند

پژوهشگران متوجه شده اند که تمرکز همزمان بر روی چند منبع رسانه ای مانند ایمیل، اینترنت و تلویزیون سبب کارآیی بیشتر شخص نمی شود. در حقیقت برای کسانی که در آن واحد چند کار را انجام می دهند، تمرکز فکری دشوار تر می شود.
Researchers at Stanford University in the United States divided a group of over 250 students into light or heavy media multitaskers. Light multitaskers focus on just one or two sources at a time - listening to music while working for example. Heavy multitaskers watch online videos, surf the web, talk or text on their mobiles, and write or read, all at the same time. Lead researcher Cliff Nass wanted to see how this would affect the way their brains work.
Clifford Nass: "You would think that people who are multitasking with all these media at once would be great at ignoring irrelevant information. However we discovered they are suckers irrelevant for information, so they're much worse than low multitaskers at ignoring the irrelevant."
Not only that, but multitaskers are worse at organising and sorting information, and worse at switching from one task to another. The findings have left the scientists with something of a mystery - why do people multitask at all? They say that in an increasingly demanding work environment, expecting staff to be constantly available by email and instant message whilst doing their jobs may actually mean that productivity falls.
برای گوش دادن به لغات به ادامه مطلب بروید
|
تحصیل در دانشگاه آمریکایی ، نه تنها در ایالات متحده Studying at an American University, Just Not in the US | |
|
|
Correction attached
This is the VOA Special English Education Report.
This week in our series on American higher education, we discuss programs that are available in the Middle East.
We talked last week about Michigan State University which opened a campus in August in the United Arab Emirates. MSU Dubai offers undergraduate degrees in areas including business, engineering, education and telecommunications. It also offers some graduate programs.
This October, Michigan State plans to open a pre-college program -- the MSU Dubai Academy. The aim is to help foreign students prepare to attend an American school.
Other American universities with campuses in the Middle East include Carnegie Mellon, Cornell, Georgetown, Northwestern, Texas A&M and Virginia Commonwealth. They have campuses in Qatar. New York University plans to open a campus in Abu Dhabi in two thousand ten.
But the worldwide economic downturn is affecting the plans of some schools. For example, earlier this year Bryn Mawr College in Pennsylvania suspended its plans to open a campus in Abu Dhabi.
مابقی در ادامه مطلب..
آنفولانزای خوکی- Swine Flu

Everything you need to know about Swine Flu
How do people become infected with influenza A (H1N1)?
Outbreaks in humans are now occurring from human-to-human transmission. When infected people cough or sneeze, infected droplets get on their hands, drop onto surfaces, or are dispersed into the air. Another person can breathe in contaminated air, or touch infected hands or surfaces, and be exposed.
مابقی در ادامه مطلب...
Tall people earn more
درآمد قد بلندها بیشتر است
محققان در استرالیا کشف کرده اند که افراد قد بلند در مقایسه با همقطاران کوتاه قدتر خود، درآمد بیشتری دارند. محققان استرالیایی همچنین کشف کرده اند که افراد تپل تر نسبت به افراد لاغر درآمد بیشتری دارند.
برای گوش دادن و خواندن متن انگلیسی به ادامه مطلب بروید
To relish Nowruz, Iranians shun global economic crisis
Iranians brave economic crisis to celebrate nation’s oldest tradition, most cheerful festival.
By Shirzad Azad - TEHRAN
Nowruz is just around the corner and Iranians from all social strata, either those living in upscale Tehran or the people whose children in the suburb slums hardly sit a decorated table dinner once a year, are thrilled to celebrate the nation’s oldest tradition and the most cheerful festival.
But Nowruz is not restricted only to those who live within the country’s borders; the Iranian New Year is also an important event in all the regions which were once parts of the greater Iran either Tajikistan and Azerbaijan or Afghanistan and Bahrain. So it does go with a large community of Iranian diaspora from Toronto to Turin to Tokyo and from Canberra to Copenhagen to Cairo.
Preparations for the new year start almost one month earlier in which housewives begin to clean everything from a to z and travel agencies sell train and air tickets for the longest holiday season that an ordinary employee in the public or private sector can get in a year.
Because of the global economic downturn the recent Chinese Lunar New Year depressed many domestic businesses and foreign companies in China, but the same is not happening in Iran. This is partly attributed to the fact that the pains of plummeted oil prices will be felt gradually in the next fiscal year (begins March 21).
And of course for many the event is so important that no economic hardship or potential commodity shortages may dissuade them of shopping and showing off.
“I save the entire year to spend for Nowruz” says Sara a housewife and mother of three children in central Tehran. Asked if the current global financial crisis may influence her family's new year budget, she answers “we simply don’t care much about it and just want to welcome Nowruz with all that is affordable for us”.
Many share Sara’s view in the sense that throughout ages neither drought or disease nor food scarcity or foreign invasion has prevented Iranians of celebrating Nowruz.
“When it comes to the new year I think for the majority of Iranians the global economic slump is only a marginal issue” says Pooya a forty years old high school teacher. “Just look at the overcrowded markets these days and you get the answer” Pooya adds.
For Shahram who imports clothes and fashion stuff from Asian countries, The global economic crisis has even provided a great opportunity to cash in. “I recently could import cheaper than I did six months ago and since this is Iran and people are not used to lower prices, I am actually making a good fortune all thanks to this so-called crisis”, Shahram says.
And for people like Negar who runs a beauty parlor in western Tehran, the countdown to the new year seems to be the peak of working days in a whole year. “I am really overwhelmed these days and my clients have booked to dye their hairs many days ago”, Negar says. “You just get what I mean if you are enough familiar with Iranian women who recently care so much about their appearances”, she adds.
Among well-to-do Iranians, many prefer to spend their holidays somewhere abroad. Malaysia, China, Turkey and the United Arab Emirates get a lion share of Iranian tourists during the New Year holidays. “I just paid about $2000 for a 10-day tour to Malaysia and Singapore starting from march 20”, says Fardin who is accompanied by his chubby young wife. They are going to take $5000 additional cash to spend there from eating and drinking to buying souvenirs for a large group of relatives and friends.
Gita who is coaching group tours to Istanbul by bus and airplane says “there is no single seat left in our new year programs and people have booked their places well in advance that we just have to say sorry to new customers and latecomers”. In her view, not for all those Iranians who can afford a foreign vacation about two weeks the global economic meltdown may cause a serious trouble. “Many of those who join our tours never get a penny of oil money”, Gita points out.
Kian Pakroo, managing director of a travel agency in northern Tehran says that “this Nowruz tours are economical because the global slump has left many hotel rooms in tourist destinations empty, and cheap gas prices have also made air tickets more affordable”. Kian recommends other nations to start celebrating Nowruz “if they want to seriously tackle the crisis and contribute to the global economy even as little as what the Iranians are doing, now”.
Having said all, the secret behind Nowruz success in Iran throughout the ages is that it matches with nature, the beginning of spring. The delight among Iranians to see off winter with giving the early days of spring a red carpet treatment resembles a great enthusiasm among the Japanese people to watch another Hanami, the cherry-blossom season roughly in the same time that both nations are joyful too see a pleasant change in nature.
Shirzad Azad is a political economy analyst at the Moj News Agency.
ترجمه در ادامه مطلب...
Turkish plane crashes in Holland
سقوط هواپیمای متعلق به ترکیه در هلند

در اثر سقوط یک هواپیمای متعلق به خطوط هواپیمایی ترکیه، دست کم 25 نفر مجروح شدند. هنگامی که این هواپیما قصد فرود آمدن در فرودگاه Schiphol در آمستردام را داشت سقوط کرد. این هواپیما دارای 135 مسافر بود:
Turkish airline flight 1951 left Istanbul this morning but crashed as it came in to land at Schiphol Airport on the outskirts of Amsterdam with 20 injured. Separate reports have claimed fifty passengers escaped injury.
Pictures from the scene show the wreckage of the Boeing 737-800 in three pieces in a field close to one of Schiphol's runways. Dutch television is reporting that rescuers have been hampered in getting to the scene because the field has recently been ploughed.
All flights to and frm Schiphol have been suspended.
Ben Shore, BBC News, Brussels
برای مشاهده معانی لغات و گوش دادن به تلفظ آنها به ادامه مطلب مراجعه کنید
Microsoft offers reward for bug creator
مایکروسافت برای پیدا کردن "ویروس ساز" جایزه تعیین کرد
مایکروسافت برای کسی که سازنده یک کرم دردسر ساز کامپیوتری را پیدا کند 250 هزار دلار جایزه تعیین کرده است. این ویروس کامپیوتری که Conficker یا Downadup خوانده می شود تا کنون به میلیون ها کامپیوتر سرایت کرده و خطر مختل شدن سیستم های کامپیوتری در سراسر جهان را به وجود آورده است. به گزارش مگی شیلز، گوش بدهید:
Microsoft says people who write this malware have to be held accountable and know the company will not let this kind of activity go unchecked. George Stathakapulous, the general manager of its trustworthy computing group, says "our message is very clear - whoever wrote this caused significant pain to our customers and we are sending a message that we will do everything we can to help with your arrest".
Since the malicious program was discovered in October 2008, it's estimated that as many as 12 million computers have been affected globally. The Conficker worm is a self-replicating program that takes advantage of networks or computers that have not kept up to date with Windows security patches. It can infect machines from the internet or by hiding on USB memory sticks, carrying data from one computer to another. The worm slithers through networks by guessing usernames and passwords.
Security specialists recommend hardening passwords by mixing in numbers, punctuation marks and upper case letters.
UK hit by heavy snow
بارش برف سنگین در بریتانیا
در بریتانیا، بارش برف سنگین شبانه، موجب مختل شدن وضعیت عادی بخش زیادی از شرق انگلستان و میدلندز شد. برنامه سرویس های اتوبوس رانی و قطارها به شدت مختل شده و بسیاری از برنامه پرواز هواپیماها لغو شد. تعداد زیادی از مدارس نیز تعطیل شدند. به گزارش راب برومبی، گوش بدهید:
It was the heaviest snowfall in 18 years. Bus services in London carrying 6 million people have been cancelled. 10 of 11 underground lines are completely or partly suspended. The capital's main airport Heathrow has closed both runways for a while and there are still significant delays and cancellations, and there are no flights at all from City airport. Others are suffering long delays and cancellations too.
Several docks to the west have become iced up. And thousands are without piped water in Wales due to the frozen pipes. Hundreds of schools have been closed across the country and children at least are enjoying conditions.
The British like to complain that other countries handle the snow better than they do, that the merest sugaring of snowflakes brings normal life to a standstill amidst transport chaos. So why does it happen? Well truly icy conditions here are rare indeed. So why make a massive investment to combat extreme weather conditions that may not be replayed for another 18 years?
At an individual level the costs of being prepared like some Alpine countries would be high too. The British, for instance, are not required to have winter tyres fitted to cars at the start of the season, nor do they routinely carry snow chains. On the other hand the Brits do like to complain, and secretly they also like being told... sorry you can't get to work.
Sony's first loss in 14 years
اولین زیان دهی سونی در چهارده سال اخیر
سونی، یکی از بزرگترین شرکت های سازنده وسایل الکترونیکی جهان، برای اولین بار در چهارده سال اخیر متحمل زیان سالانه شده است. این شرکت کساد اقتصادی جهان و قوی شدن ین ژاپن را مسبب کاهش تقاضا برای محصولاتش دانسته است. ماریکو اوی از سنگاپور گزارش می دهد:
The Japanese electronic giant Sony has slashed its annual earnings forecast again. It's expected to report an annual operating loss of almost 3 billion dollars. The company had previously forecast a profit of 2 billion dollars.
If confirmed, this would be Sony's first loss in 14 years, the second only since the company was listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in 1958.
Like other Japanese exporters, Sony is taking a beating from the global slump. The yen's appreciation also means less profit - as the company gets 80 percent of its sales from overseas.
Mariko Oi, BBC News, Singapore
New words
کلمه های جدید

آیا معنی کلمه Meh یا Jargonaut یا Ferenemy را می دانید؟ این سه کلمه از جمله کلماتی هستند که مردم بریتانیا برای وارد شدن در چاپ جدید فرهنگ انگلیسی Collins انتخاب کرده اند. ولی آنچه که مسلم است همه مردم با این کلمه ها آشنایی ندارند. به گزارش راب نوریس، گوش بدهید:
The way we speak and write changes all the time. Expressions which once sounded "supercool" or "hip" can end up sounding a bit "naff" - or even "pants". Compiling dictionaries to keep up with the ebb and flow of the English language is a full-time job. Hundreds of people in Britain came forward with suggestions for the new dictionary.
Shark blood may help fight cancer
خون کوسه ماهی ممکن است به مبارزه با سرطان کمک کند

پژوهشگران استرالیایی کشف کرده اند که خون کوسه ماهی ممکن است به مبارزه با بیماری سرطان کمک کند. کوسه ماهی ها دارای سیستم مصونیتی هستند که مشابه سیستم مصونیت بدن انسان است و پژوهشگران معتقدند که سیستم دفاع بیولوژیکی و شیمیایی کوسه ماهی ها می تواند پیشروی برخی از بیماری ها را کندتر کند.
|
|
Sharks have unusual antibodies which are exceptionally resilient, as you'd expect from predators with such a fearsome reputation. Scientists have found that these disease-busting substances can withstand high temperatures as well as extremely acidic or alkaline conditions.
What's of particular interest to Australian researchers is the antibodies' ability to survive in the harsh environment of the human gut, which is crucial to the development of a cancer-fighting pill.
Sharks were chosen for the project because they have robust immune systems and rarely succumb to infections. There is evidence that their antibodies can slow the spread of breast cancer.
The aim is to eventually establish a clinical trial as efforts continue to develop this unconventional new technology that could also help in the treatment of malaria and rheumatoid arthritis.
Elephants protected by text messages
محافظت از فیل ها با استفاده از پیامک (پیام کوتاه)

به گزارش گوش بدهيد Listen to report
Hungry elephants pose big problems for small farmers and villagers in some parts of Kenya raiding for food and wiping out homes and livelihoods in the process. Two years ago the Kenyan wildlife service had to reluctantly shoot five elephants who continued to raid crops.
In an attempt to avert such drastic measures the Save the Elephants charity installed a mobile phone sim card in a collar that was placed on a huge bull elephant called Kimani. The conservationists then set up a virtual fence using a global positioning system. Each time Kimani came near the fence, a text message was sent to rangers. So far he's been intercepted fifteen times.
The project is expensive requiring five full time staff and a standby vehicle but it seems to be working successfully as Kimani hasn't come near a farm for four months. A similar system has now been implemented in another part of the country.
Venice floods ونیز را آب می گیرد

این هشدارها که ممکن است ارتفاع سطح آب دریا در اطراف شهر ونیز به بالاترین حد در طی 30 سال اخیر برسد، سبب شده که در مورد احتمال جاری شدن سیل در این شهر ایتالیا اعلام خطر شود. چندین خیابان ونیز، از جمله منطقه اصلی توریستی این شهر هم اکنون زیر آب رفته است.
In the past few hours the famous Piazza San Marco, or Saint Mark's Square, has already gone under around eighty centimetres of water. Surrounding streets have also been affected with some residents cut off in their homes.
But the Venice Tidal Centre says that levels could go much higher. It says the sea is due to rise to one meter sixty above its normal level - the highest since 1979.














