تالار گفتگوی بیداری اندیشه

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Vertical Farming

Vertical Farming: Potatoes? They’re on the Fifth Floor

This is the VOA Special English Agriculture Report.

Dickson Despommier is a public health professor at Columbia University in New York City. His area is environmental health sciences.

One day nine years ago, he and his students developed an idea. They imagined people in cities growing crops inside a tall building. Tomatoes could grow on one floor of the skyscraper, potatoes on the next, small animals and fish on the floor above. You get the idea.

This vertical farm, or “farmscraper,” could have space for restaurants and other places that serve food, like schools or hospitals. They could serve foods that are truly locally grown. The building could even produce its own energy.

It could have wind turbines on top.

But why would anyone want to build a farm indoors in a city? Dickson Despommier believes it will become necessary.

The world needs to find places to produce enough food to feed the growing population. Space, he says, is an all-important issue.

The professor also points to problems of traditional farms. They use a lot of freshwater. Their fertilizer and animal waste can pollute water resources. And their growing seasons can be limited.

But inside the vertical farm, crops could grow all year. And there would be no wind to blow away soil. Farmers would not have to worry about too much or too little rain, or about hot summers, freezing winters, or insects.

And without insects, there would be no need for chemicals to kill them.

Farm machines that use fossil fuels, like plows and tractors, would not be needed either. And water could be recycled for drinking. “The vertical farm reuses everything, so there is no waste,” says Professor Despommier.

Even buildings could be saved. Old buildings could become new farms and provide jobs.

The professor has been actively proposing the idea to cities as far away as Dubai and Canada. But so far, it exists only in plans and drawings, and a model at the Museum of Science and Industry in Chicago.

Critics say building a farmscraper would cost too much, especially considering the price of land in many cities.

Dickson Despommier estimates the cost at about $20 to 30 million.

But he says the building would not have to be very tall. And his graduate students have found many empty lots and unused buildings in New York City that could provide space.

And that’s the VOA Special English Agriculture Report, written by Jerilyn Watson. For a link to the Vertical Farm

Project, go to voaspecialenglish.com.

سلام....
الان داشتم یه متنی میخوندم یه Idiom جالب پیدا کردم.... Wink

have a ball:

to have an exciting time

Come on, everybody! Let's have a ball

(۱۰/دی/۹۲ ۲:۳۶)پرنیان نوشته است: [ -> ]

^^^Listening 11^^^

The Price of Pleasure

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

Usually we think about material qualities when we think about the pleasure we will get from a product. When something costs a lot, we might think about all the fine work that went into it. But can price alone influence the pleasure we experience?

Researchers from the California Institute of Technology and the Stanford Graduate School of Business say yes.

Hilke Plassmann, John O’Doherty, and Antonio Rangel at Caltech and Baba Shiv at Stanford did a study. They had twenty people taste different wines. Wine was chosen because it comes in many different qualities and prices and because a lot of people enjoy tasting it.

The people were told they were tasting five different Cabernet Sauvignons. The wines were identified only by price: $5, $10, $35, $45, and $90.

But in truth, there were only three different wines, and two of them were presented twice, at a high price and a low price. For example, the wine that in fact cost $90 a bottle was presented half the time as a ten-dollar wine. There were two important results from the study.

First, the individuals, on average, reported greater pleasure from drinking wine that they were told was higher in price. Brain images taken while the people tasted the wine supported this finding.

Activity, represented by blood-oxygen levels, increased in an area of the brain thought to process “experienced pleasantness.” Experiments have shown that the medial orbitofrontal cortex processes the experience of enjoyment from smells, taste, and music. The new findings will add to the limited knowledge of how marketing affects brain activity.

The second result has meaning for economists and marketers. The experiment appears to confirm that raising the price can increase how much a product is enjoyed. In other words, when it comes to expectations, it seems you really do get what you pay for.

The study is in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences.

And that’s the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. Transcripts, MP3s, and podcasts of our reports are at voaspecialenglish.com.

کد قالب بندی شده:

Excuse me ma'am!

What is THAT?!

It says people were pleased when they drank wine!

Of course most people here like every other knowledgeable man know the pleasantness of wisdom and are aware of how happy are the lives their experiencing without drinking, so will understand that virtueless people don't know the meaning of being pleased and won't be mistaken by their mistake.

But my question is, won't anyone get influenced in anyway?

Do people always remember to maintain their guard against everything that defies their knowledge?

Don't they mistakenly accept some?

And, what happens to people whose knowledge is not firmed?

Not something to ask, surely all of us have heard of cultural attack.

I've even seen Americans point that out! They say: America's greatest ambassadors don't wear suits.

My wonder is because I'm sure people here are much smarter than enough to understand that.

Do you know who are the VOA people?

The ones who have no sympathy for people being slaughtered by ... nowadays by so many!

Do you know who are the VOA funders?

The same ones who manage the war issues! OH GOD! The same who are mainly responsible for this! For this crazy world of slaughtered children and burnt piles of human folks!

So I wanted to emphasize on our religious pledge regarding Imam Hosein(peace be upon him):

Truly I'm fair to people who were fair to you,

and a fighter against people who fought you,

and a helper to people who helped you,

and an enemy to people who were enemy to you.

You know we should take this pledge into every aspect of our life.

Those people behind the texts you've brought have been constantly showing the highest level of animosity towards our religion and our nation, and are standing on the same side as the ones who shamelessly disrespected our dearest Holy Qur'an and Prophet(peace be upon him).

Can we say there is no other way to pursue science? Of course not.

Much other speaking things are available, which are much much more harmless, scientific and helpful.

For an example I can refer to scientific or critical documentaries available on the net.

I said this just because I was concerned that my silence will become a burden.

What you'll do about my word, is the choice I leave to you.

Please take it easy..I don`t think so..I put it to learn English.

And I think you are the first person that read this text...and it shows that I waste my time.Don`t worry I can remove it easily....
At the end you said (What you'll do about my word, is the choice I leave to you)... what do you mean ? ...

(۱۴/دی/۹۲ ۲۳:۲۱)پرنیان نوشته است: [ -> ]
Please take it easy..I don`t think so..I put it to learn English.

And I think you are the first person that read this text...and it shows that I waste my time.Don`t worry I can remove it easily....
At the end you said (What you'll do about my word, is the choice I leave to you)... what do you mean ? ...

کد قالب بندی شده:

I knew you didn't think so! :)

That's why I said that.

How do you say I'm the first? There was some "thank"s under that post already.

And I'm really thankful to you for editing it. :)

I'm also willing to mention that I didn't mean that individual post, but everything that might be an instance of losing lines or letting attack.

Every documentary might contain 20 to 50 times more content than a single listening lesson.

Some positive films(mostly classic ones) could be used as well.

This seems to me even easier. :)

About that final sentence, I found out that I was mistaken, and I should had wrote: is "a" choice I leave to you.

It just simply means that the choice about your action regarding what I said, is yours. It is yours, so I leave it to you.

Greetings.

May god bless you.

ஜListening 13ஜ

arrow n.

An arrow is a thin, straight stick shot from a bow.

The arrow flew through the air and hit the target.

battle n.

A battle is a fight between two armies during a war.

The battle lasted for many days.

bow n.

A bow is a weapon made of curved wood and string that shoots arrows.

He went hunting with a bow and arrow.

brave adj.

When people are brave, they are not afraid to face pain or danger.

The brave firefighter saved the girl from the burning building.

chief n.

A chief is the leader of a group of people.

The chief led the people through the mountains.

disadvantage n.

A disadvantage is a situation where someone is likely to lose.

Mike had a disadvantage in the race since he hurt his knee.

enemy n.

An enemy is a country that is fighting another country during a war.

The enemy prepared to attack the kingdom.

entrance n.

An entrance is a place where someone can enter an area.

The gate was locked, so Bill had to find a different entrance.

hardly adv.

If something hardly happens, it almost does not happen at all.

I hardly saw the concert since I had to leave early.

intend v.

To intend to do something means to plan to do it.

I intend to finish college in three years.

laughter n.

Laughter is the sound produced by laughing about something funny.

Susan’s joke made her classmates burst into laughter.

log n.

A log is a thick piece of wood that is cut from a tree.

The fire was too small, so we added another log to it.

military n.

The military is the armed forces of a country.

- I joined the military after I finished high school.

obey v.

To obey means to follow what a law or a person says you must do.

My little sister did not obey my mother. Now she is in trouble.

secure V.

To secure something means to get it after a lot of effort.

I was able to secure a good grade on my test after weeks of studying.

steady adj.

When someone or something is steady, they are under control.

The problem was hard but she remained steady and solved it.

trust V.

To trust is to believe that someone is honest and will do what is right.

I trust my friends; they don’t tell my secrets to other people.

twist v.

To twist something is to wrap it around itself or another thing.

She twisted the spaghetti around her fork.

unless conj.

Unless means if not or except when.

- Unless you clean your room, you cannot play with your friends.

weapon n.

A weapon is an object that can be used to hurt people.

Swords have been used as weapons for thousands of years.

ܓܓListening 14ܓܓ

The Battle of Thermopylae

This is a true story. It happened long ago in Greece___

“We must fight,” the Spartan* chief told his small army of brave men. They were at a great disadvantage. There were only three hundred of them. The Persian military had hundreds of thousands of men.

They were going to lose unless they could secure a small entrance. The enemy couldn’t move through it easily. They intended to stop the enemy here. The chief and his men got ready for the battle.

Soon, long lines of the enemy’s army twisted around the hills. The chief met the enemy with laughter. He knew that his men’s weapons and skills were better. The

Spartans trusted their leader and obeyed him.

First, the enemy soldiers shot arrows from their bows. The chief told his men to lift their shields*. The arrows stuck into the shields but did not hurt any of the men.

Then the enemy’s soldiers attacked the Spartans with long spears. The chief surprised them. His troops rolled logs down on the enemy.

They fought for three days. Though they hardly slept at all, the chief and his men remained steady.

But the enemy found a way to beat the Spartans. The chief and all of his men were killed. Even though they lost, the Battle of Thermopylae is one of the most famous battles in history.

* Spartan - a soldier from the city of

Sparta in Greece

* shield - a piece of wood or metal that soldiers carried to protect themselves

سلام.....

shop till you drop

If you shop till you drop, you go shopping for a very long time, until you are exhausted.

If you go to London with Ashley, you'll shop till you drop, so take comfortable shoes!

-:¦:-Listening 15 -:¦:-

E-Waste

What to Do with E-waste

Every day, millions of people use electronics like computers and cell phones. They are an important part of our lives. But they do not last forever. When they break or become too old, people often just throw them out. It is called electronic waste, or e-waste. And it is becoming a big problem.

In America, people throw away over 20 million tons of e-waste every year. Unfortunately, that is not the end of the story. A lot of this e-waste is shipped overseas to countries like China and India. Why would they want someone else’s trash? Electronics are often made with small amounts of gold, copper, and other expensive materials. Workers take apart the electronics to get these materials.

However, electronics also contain materials that can be bad for people’s health. Usually there is a safe way to recycle these materials. But some countries do not have strong rules about how to work with e-waste. Often, the old electronics are just left in big piles outside. When it rains, unhealthy materials wash away into the ground.

Then they can get into the water that people drink. Sometimes the piles of old computers are just burned. This can cause the bad materials to get into the air.

Some people feel that the best solution is to stop throwing away our electronics. Broken computers can be fixed.

Even if a computer is old, it can still be useful to someone. Alex Lin is a teenager from America. He started a small company called WIN. The company fixes old and broken computers and gives them to people who need them.

2004, In WIN sent computers to students in Sri Lanka. Their school was destroyed by the huge Asian tsunami. Now they have computers again.

سلام.....
...یه Idiom جالب .....

lose face
:be less respected or look stupid because of sth you have done..
He could lose face if other people see that he got everything wrong.

-:¦:- listening 16 -:¦:-

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