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Hello and welcome to Learning English,

a daily 30 minute program from the Voice of America.

I'm Anna Matteo.

And I'm Bryan Lynn.

This program is aimed at English learners,

so we speak slowly

and we use words and phrases,

especially written for people learning

English.

Today on the show,

Anna Matteo brings us words and their stories.

Caty Weaver has a story on proposals in California

to protect the state's famous Joshua Trees.

And we end with a new lesson of the day.

This time, Andrew Smith and Joe Robbins

talk about a grammatical structure in English

known as reported speech.

But first,

a new study suggests that Venus likely

never had water flowing on its surface.

The research was based on data

related to the chemical makeup of the planet's atmosphere.

Scientists have long considered

whether Venus once held liquid water,

even possibly large oceans.

Such research was based on the fact

that Venus is like our own planet in many ways,

it is a rocky planet, similar

in structure and size to Earth,

and is also our closest planetary neighbor.

But the latest study provides evidence

that Venus has likely always been the hot extreme,

dry planet it remains today.

Researchers from Britain's University

of Cambridge led the study.

It recently appeared in the publication

Nature Astronomy.

The researchers data examinations

led them to conclude that both the surface

and interior of Venus remain dry.

The team said the strongest evidence

that Venus once had large amounts of water

would be the discovery of some water

inside the planet today.

But the study provided no evidence of that.

Since water is considered

an important element for supporting life,

the researchers also suggest that Venus was likely

never habitable or able to support life.

The lead writer of the study

was Teresa Constantinou, a doctoral student

at the University of Cambridge's Institute of Astronomy.

She told Reuters news agency

we suggest that a habitable past

would be associated with Venus's present interior

being water rich and a dry past,

with Venus's present interior being dry.

The researchers explained

they attempted to measure the current destruction rate of molecules

in water, carbon dioxide and carbon

sulfide in Venus's atmosphere.

The state of the planet's atmosphere

is linked to volcanic activity.

The team said volcanism,

through its supply of gases to the atmosphere, provides a window

into the interior of rocky planets like Venus.

The researchers wrote in a statement.

As magma rises from the mantle to the surface,

it releases gases from the deeper portions of the planet.

Volcanic explosions or eruptions

can provide information on the amount of water

contained deep below a planet's surface,

the scientists said.

On Earth, for example,

volcanic eruptions mostly release steam,

a vapor created when water gets heated.

Measurements of volcanic gases on Earth have shown

they release about 60% water vapor.

But the researchers said their examinations

suggested volcanic gases released on

Venus were less than 6% water vapor.

This persuaded the team to conclude that the planet's interior,

the source of the magma that releases

volcanic gases, must be very dry.

The team noted that

scientists have had two leading theories

on the history of water on Venus.

The first is that the planet

had a moderate climate for billions of years,

with liquid water flowing over areas

of the surface over time.

Widespread volcanic activity likely led to extreme heat

and dry conditions that made the water disappear.

The second theory imagined Venus

as being very hot from the beginning, preventing liquid water

from ever forming on the surface,

Constantinou said.

Both of those theories are based on climate models,

but we wanted to take a different approach

based on observations of Venus's

current atmospheric chemistry.

She added that the team did not find evidence

that any chemicals being removed from the atmosphere

were later being restored.

This provides strong evidence

that Venus has a very dry interior today.

The scientists concluded

the atmospheric chemistry suggests

that volcanic eruptions on Venus release very little water,

implying that the planet's interior is equally dry.

Constantinou said.

She added that her team would have loved to find

that Venus was once a planet much closer to our own.

However, Constantinou noted

the finding suggests that researchers should center

their searches on planets that are mostly likely

to be able to support life, at least life as we know it.

And now.

Words and their stories from VOA

Learning English.

Are. Playing

cards is a popular pastime for people of all ages.

Some games are easy,

while others are complex.

And people of all walks of life play cards

A set of playing cards is called a deck.

A deck of cards is not costly

and can be bought almost anywhere

with one deck of 52 cards.

You can play many different games.

Some of the games include

poker, blackjack, bridge, rummy, 500 snap

hearts, and Crazy Eights, just to name a few.

The deck of cards also gives

the English language many idioms.

Today we will talk about a few of them

to win at many card games.

You must keep your cards hidden from the other players.

In many games, the cards you are dealt

and play with are called your hand.

If your opponents know your hand,

they can easily beat you.

Some players keep their cards hidden

by holding them to their chest.

In life, you might need to keep some parts of a plan

hidden or secret for them to succeed.

You might need to keep your cards close to your chest.

This idiom means to keep your plans,

intentions, or methods secret.

However, with most card games, players

must show their cards to the other players at some point.

Sometimes, at the end of the game.

This gives us two similar idioms

to show your hand and to lay your cards on the table.

As an idiom, to show your hand or your cards

means to tell people your plans or intentions that you had kept hidden.

The same is

true of laying your cards on the table.

In many card games, the players must show their cards

by placing them face up on the table for everyone to see.

When we put our cards on the table, we show something that we have kept

hidden.

These can be things like our reasons for doing something.

Our intentions or our opinions.

Now, in a game of cards,

luck or chance plays an important part.

You must play with the cards you are dealt.

This is the case in life too.

Not everything is a choice.

Sometimes we must deal with things that are out of our control.

We must play with the cards we are dealt.

We can also say play the hand we are dealt.

So luck is part of the game.

We cannot know or predict the cards we are dealt.

But sometimes other players cheat.

They can do this by stacking the deck.

When you stack the deck,

you add cards to the deck that will help you win.

This gives you an unfair advantage

in life.

We can sometimes feel that things are stacked against us.

This means that no matter how hard we try, we still struggle.

We feel as though life has dealt us a bad hand,

and we must struggle and fight

to gain anything at all.

For example, if the deck is stacked against you,

the odds are not in your favor.

You might have to struggle against all odds to succeed.

These are just a few of the idioms

English gets from a deck of cards.

There are many more,

but that's all the time we have today.

Keep listening to words and their stories to learn more.

Until next time.

I'm Anna Matteo.

Para.

VOA Learning

English has launched a new program for children.

It is called Let's Learn English with Ana.

The new course aims to teach children American English

through asking and answering questions

and experiencing fun situation.

For more information, visit our website.

Learning English Dot VOA News.com.

The California Department of Fish

and Wildlife has released a proposed plan

to protect this state's famous Joshua Trees.

Environmentalists say

the trees are threatened by wildfires,

human development and climate change.

An early version of the plan calls for avoiding

or reducing direct and indirect effects of overgrazing,

insect killing, chemical use

and off roading activity.

The plan advises moving trees

when projects require their removal

or could harm them.

It also calls for identifying and protecting lands

where the trees could survive.

If the climate in Southern California becomes drier and hotter.

In many ways, it's a good

comprehensive plan of the things we need to do.

If the Western Joshua Tree is going to survive the very,

very difficult decades ahead, said Brendan Cummings.

He is conservation director

with the center for Biological Diversity,

based in Tucson, Arizona.

The nonprofit group asked the California

government in 2019 to list the western Joshua Tree

as threatened under the state's Endangered Species Act.

The conservation plan is a requirement

by the Western Joshua Tree Conservation Act.

California lawmakers passed the act last year.

It is the first law in the state

to protect a species from the threats of climate change.

The law also bars anyone from killing,

damaging or removing a tree

without state permission.

The proposed plan lists

ways to help identify land

that should be recognized as most important for conservation.

This includes large areas with Joshua trees,

or areas with a high density of healthy

and adult trees.

The plan suggests placing

restrictions on areas where there is low risk of such threats

as fires, invasive plants and animals development,

and where pollinators and seed

spreading animals exist.

It aims to identify these lands

by December 2025

and place permanent restrictions

on 70% of them by 2033.

The plan also calls on land managers

and wildlife workers to create methods

to reduce and fight wildfires that threaten the trees

and lessen effects from rehabilitating burned areas.

That includes protecting trees, replanting them,

planting other native species, and controlling invasive ones.

The proposed plan says

its effectiveness and the survival of the trees

will mainly depend on whether reductions can be made

in the release of heat trapping gases.

Such emissions come mainly from

burning coal, oil and gas.

Cummings

said climate change could destroy most,

if not all, of the areas where the trees live.

If the situation does not change,

if emissions are limited as planned, Cummings said.

We have a very good chance of saving the species

if all the things outlined in this plan are carried out,

and primarily that's doing what we can

to protect as many of them as possible.

Approval from California's

Fish and Game Commission is necessary

for the proposed plan to go into effect.

I'm Caty Weaver.

Before

we listen to today's lesson of the day,

just a quick reminder to all of you

to keep going back to our website

for additional language lessons and related content.

If you like, you can even present questions

to be answered by our teachers.

And now it's

time for the lesson of the day on the Learning English podcast.

My name is Jill Robbins, and I'm joined by Andrew Smith.

Hi, Andrew. Hi, Jill.

Our lesson is based on our video series.

Let's Learn English.

The series shows Anna Matteo

in her work and life in Washington, D.C..

Here's Anna introducing herself.

Hello.

My name is Anna Matteo.

Watching and listening carefully to the video

series can help you understand and speak English better.

And learn about some aspects of American culture.

For example, lesson 20 is called the test drive.

Anna and her friend Penelope go to an auto show.

Have you ever been to an auto show?

Andrew,

you know I haven't.

I've never been, but, I have been interested in going.

They look interesting.

In this

video Anna takes a test drive in a car,

which means she drives the car for a short distance to try it out.

That at auto shows, it's kind of like a fair to demonstrate

new models of cars for people interested in learning about them.

So you can expect to see new cars and learn about new features.

And nowadays they're really promoting the electric vehicles.

That's right.

At this car show, Anna and Penelope

are there as reporters.

They also mention someone named Rick,

who seems to be the videographer.

That's right.

Rick created all of the wonderful videos in our first two

Let's Learn English series.

Let's listen in and find out what Anna

and Penelope learn.

Now, that's a great idea.

Rick, I think we should use this as the opening shot.

Anna, did Ms. Weaver give us instructions for covering the car show?

She did.

She said that we need to show lots of cars.

She said we need to interview people.

And she also said to have fun.

Those were her exact words.

Yeah.

She said, have fun. Anna.

And she is the boss.

Okay. Rick. Are you. Are you ready?

Okay.

Hello? I'm Anna Matteo.

Welcome to the Washington car show.

People all over town are saying that if you like cars, this is the place to be.

So let's see what people are talking about.

One of the grammar points in

this lesson is reported speech.

We hear Anna telling Penelope what Ms. Weaver said.

She said that we need to show lots of cars.

She said we need to interview people.

Let's compare how we tell exactly what someone said like directly

to reporting what they said indirectly.

When we quote a person, we give their exact words.

Imagine Helena could directly quote Ms. Weaver.

Ms. Weaver said

you need to show lots of cars.

You need to interview people.

In reported speech, we make some changes.

We add a reporting verb,

which in our example is the word said.

It could also be words such as tell, ask, reply

or any other verbs we use for speech.

Then we can use a conjunction like that.

The conjunction is optional as we hear in our examples.

Finally, we say the reporting clause,

which often uses a different tense from the original.

For example, if the verb is present,

we might change it to the past and we may change the pronoun.

If the quote used one.

That sounds like a lot of changes, but it's not too complicated.

Listen again.

She said that we need to show lots of cars.

She said we need to interview people.

Let me give an example where the verb tense changes.

Last week, you told me that you were driving to North Carolina for the weekend.

I did, and to report

that you changed the verb tense.

I said, I am driving to North Carolina for the weekend.

Yeah, and I would say Andrew told me

that he was driving to North Carolina for the weekend.

Let's listen to one more example from our story.

First, Ana tells Penelope

that Ms. Weaver told them to have fun.

Then Penelope asks Ana

to tell her exactly what Ms. Weaver said.

And she also said to have fun.

Those were her exact words.

Yeah.

She said, have fun, Ana.

I think that's because she didn't quite believe her.

Yeah.

Listeners, let's practice this a little bit.

Jill and I will say a quote,

then give you time to change it to reported speech.

Then we'll let you know how it should change.

Are you ready?

Yep. Here's the first one.

I am going shopping.

Jill said she was going shopping

or Jill said she was going to go shopping.

Notice the verb changed from am to.

Was okay.

Now it's my turn.

I will wash the dishes after lunch.

Andrew said that

he would wash the dishes after lunch.

Here the past tense applies to the modal verb.

Will. And the next one.

Andrew, will you please make me a cup of tea?

Joe asked me to make her a cup of tea.

You changed the reporting verb there to ask.

Good job.

Jill just said that I did a good job.

Wait, wait, that wasn't an example.

I was just saying that. Haha.

Well, I guess I'm really on a roll with this reported speech.

Now let's

see what happens back at the auto show.

I think we're in for some silliness

or funny situations, which you can see for yourself.

If you go to our website and watch the video.

Okay, I think we got good interviews.

Me, two people all had very different opinions,

but they all said they loved cars.

Anna,

look, a robot, a robot, a robot.

Rick, we have to use the robot in the show.

What is your first name?

Anna. Oh, no. Anna.

You know what? An effort.

What an effort to robot dance.

How about a round of applause for all the.

I've never seen anyone try so hard.

Penelope, did you hear that?

Hank the robot said that he has never seen anyone dance like me.

I'm sure our listeners can imagine Anna doing that robot dance.

And did you notice some more reported speech?

I did, Anna said

Hank the robot said that he has never seen anyone dance like me.

I bet he hadn't.

But now it's time for us to end this podcast.

Andrew said it was time to end the podcast,

but you can still practice reported speech.

Listen to the radio or TV and take one sentence,

write it or say it to yourself using reported speech.

I think that's a good idea.

Jill.

Also, our listeners can write to us in an email

to Learning English at VOA News.com.

Thanks for listening to the lesson of the day.

If you liked this program, please share it with your family and friends.

And remember that you can also find us on Facebook,

YouTube, and Instagram.

I'm Andrew Smith.

And I'm Jill Robbins.

And that's all the

time we have for today's show.

But join us again tomorrow for another VOA Learning English program.

Thanks for listening.

I'm Bryan Lynn.

And I'm Anna Matteo.

Please choose the correct answer for each question below: