EU Countries Agree on Financial Framework From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report in Special English.European Union countries have struggled to find common ground as they tried to work out a budget agreement in Belgium. But this month, they agreed on the European Union's multiannual financial framework, or MMF, for the period from 2014 to 2020. The MMF sets the EU's yearly spending at about $1.3 trillion. That is one percent of the income of the EU.Members agreed to reduce total spending by more than three percent for the period. This is the first time that members have accepted cutting costs. European Council President Herman Van Rompuy spoke after the agreement was announced. He said the compromise budget might not be perfect. But, he said, it should help all EU members.German Chancellor Angela Merkel praised the long-term spending plan. She said the agreement makes policy more predictable and enables members to act in Europe's interest. Some EU leaders have been calling for greater spending controls in their home countries. They wanted the EU to show that it too is willing to cut costs.British Prime Minister David Cameron welcomed the agreement. Before the two-day meeting in Brussels, he had threatened to veto the budget, if there were no steps toward reducing spending. But the agreement still might not succeed. The European parliament must approve the measure. And some members of the parliament say it fails to deal with many problems like the sharp differences in wealth between rich and poor people. If the measure is approved, it will affect 28 European Union countries.
http://www.learning-englishonline.com/ US Farmers Struggle With Drought A drought across much of the United States is forcing farmers to make difficult decisions. Damage to corn and soybeans is already severe in the hardest-hit areas. Alan Bowers Jr. is a farmer in the state of Illinois in the Midwest. He explains the situation this way: "You get up in the morning, and you think it might be another thirteen months before we get a paycheck. The corn and soybean crop is our paycheck." The corn on his farm is so dry, the stalks break apart easily. The corn is unusable. So in the middle of July, Alan Bowers decided to cut down his crop to avoid a total loss. He says it can only be used to feed animals.Alan Bowers Jr. and his wife, Lori, are hoping for a small insurance settlement to help them pay their bills until next year.Lori Bowers says: "People don't realize we have no boss and we have nobody to help us. And it's tough. You have to work together. You have to work with a husband and a wife and family, and together try to work through it."The Bowers could also lose their soybeans to the record high temperatures and lack of rain in the worst drought in more than 50 years. And Alan Bowers says the farm itself may not survive if next year is anything like this. The farm has been in his family for four generations. The drought is affecting the Mississippi River, the nation's longest and most economically important waterway. Last year, heavy rains flooded parts of the Mississippi.
http://www.learning-englishonline.com/ Math, Science Still Often Taught the Old School Way Classes in science, technology, engineering and math are known as STEM classes. Many professors continue to teach STEM classes the traditional way: by lecturing. But standing in front of the class and lecturing may not be the best way to teach today's students. That is what Kevin Eagan says. He is with the University of California, Los Angeles. He also is co-author of a new study. It found that lecturing is still used a great deal in STEM courses taught in the United States. Kevin Eagan says lecturing is not bad, but it tends to be less productive when it is the only teaching technique used in the classroom. He says that when teachers add class discussion, encourage questions and provide hands-on activities, students are better engaged in learning. Supporters say placing students at the center of instruction changes the focus from teaching to learning. The study did find a growing use of student-centered methods like class discussions, cooperative learning and student presentations. Female professors are more likely than male professors to use the new methods in undergraduate classes. More than 60 percent of female faculty in science, technology, engineering and math said they used cooperative learning methods. That was compared to about 40 percent of male teachers.
For 'Culinary Adventure,' Group Brings Table to Farm "Farm to table" is the name of a movement that encourages people to eat locally grown food. The farm-to-table idea has become more popular in recent years. But there is also a group that also brings "table to farm." This traveling group is called Outstanding in the Field. It says its mission is to reconnect people to the land and to honor local farmers by creating a restaurant without walls. Jim Denevan got the idea for this kind of "culinary adventure," as he calls it, 10 years ago. He recently prepared tables for more than 100 people at Briars Farmstead in Virginia. He and his eight-member crew arrived the night before. Chefs from a local restaurant prepared the dinner. Jim Denevan says, "The mission of Outstanding in the Field is to bring people closer to where food comes from and hear the stories directly from the farmer."Jim Denevan's brother is a farmer and he, himself, is a former chef.
Technology experts, government officials, policy makers and engineers recently met in Italy. They gathered in Rome for the first Green Standards Week conference. Italy's Ministry of Economic Development and the International Telecommunications Union organized the conference. The event called attention to the need for information and communication technologies to fight climate change and to build greener, more environmentally friendly economies. In recent years, the world has changed because so many people now use computers, mobile phones and other kinds of electronic devices. But the increasing use of information and communication technologies, also known as ICTs, also has led to more pollution, especially greenhouse gas emissions. This is mostly because of the energy used to manufacture, transport and operate such equipment. Still, many experts say ICTs offer the best chance for reducing greenhouse gases. The Global Information Society Watch reported last year that ICTs could help to cut total production of greenhouse gases by as much as fifteen percent by twenty twenty. Alan Finlay is with the Association for Progressive Communications.
From VOA Learning English, this is the Economics Report in Special English. Burma's financial industry has suffered from years of mismanagement under military rule. But more recently, the government has pushed through economic reforms. Those measures are changing the nation's banks and reenergizing businesses. There are even hopes that Burma could become one of Asia's fastest growing economies: an Asian Tiger. Burma had the one of the best-performing economies in Southeast Asia before the military seized power in 1962. Many years of state control over the economy followed. Widespread corruption and international sanctions left it one of the poorest countries in the area. Economist Sean Turnell says turning around the economy will require strong measures against corruption. That is why he says political change is important to economic reform. He says restrictive measures make it harder for Burmese to do business internationally. The restrictions on foreign monetary exchange do not only hurt big business. They hurt small businesses, too. Here is an example. Nyi Nyi owns a workshop in Rangoon. He and his family manufacture toys for buyers from all over the world. His toy business is international, but Burma's banks are not.
A Device That Can Tell If Drivers Are Alert High-tech companies are developing the next generation of products that will help us drive cars, do our shopping and even care for our children. The technology company Intel recently held a demonstration of some of its new devices in San Francisco. One device measured how alert a driver was. Sensors connected to the driver's head measured brain activity. Cameras placed on the car's dashboard measured eye movement. Justin Rattner works at Intel Labs. He says the devices measure how much of the brain is occupied while the person is driving. Devices like these, he says, will make driving safer. Another experimental Intel technology links cars electronically to help prevent crashes. When the driver of the car in front signals a turn or slows down, an alert message is sent to the car in back. There was also a demonstration of a virtual computer. The computer was projected onto the table from a controller hidden in a flower pot. Sensors read the movements of the users' hands, so there was no need for a mouse or other handheld device. This technology could be used in everyday situations.
