A bakery in New York City and the growing movie business in China

 

From VOA Learning English, welcome to AS IT IS!

AS IT IS --- our new magazine show in Special English. Today and in the days to come, we will be expanding on major world events and reporting on issues that concern you. We will be talking with newsmakers, experts and VOA’s own reporters to help make sense of this quickly changing world --- AS IT IS.

Hello, again. I’m Jim Tedder¹ in Washington. It’s nice to have you with us. On today’s program, the big cats of Africa are disappearing, and Zambia has decided² to act. Also, a look at the growing movie business in China, and how it is affecting Hollywood. But first, a trip to New York City to a bakery that helps to change lives with every loaf of bread it sells.

Ahhh! The air is filled with the wonderful smells of freshly baked breads …walnut raisin⁴, grindstone rye, and sourdough. Welcome to the “Hot Bread Kitchen.” Six years ago, Jessamyn Rodriguez left her job at the United Nations and started the business. But bread was not all she had in mind.

“Many women who immigrate⁵ to the United States have passion and skill in the culinary arts but often end up in jobs with no professional trajectory⁶.”

Ms. Rodriguez’s idea was to hire women to bake the kinds of bread they made in their home countries. She knew that immigrant minority women were hard workers, but often very poorly paid.

“And I’m also a firm believer that if you invest in a woman you are investing in a family and a community.”

She has eighteen women working in her bakery. They come from Mexico, Bangladesh, Togo, Morocco, Haiti, and other places.

“A head baker³ in New York City can make up to sixty-five thousand dollars a year. We’re hoping that within a few years our women will be headed toward head baker management track positions in the city.”

The women who work and learn at the Hot Bread Kitchen are paid nine dollars an hour. They also receive health care and get English lessons two times each week. Fatiha Outabount is from Morocco.

“Before, I don’t speak English…nothing. Just “Hi, bye, goodnight” …that’s it. But when I start to have class here, I’m speaking English little bit well.”

The breads the women bake are sold to markets and expensive restaurants in New York City. Ms. Rodriguez says her business is the only bakery in the city that produces breads from so many different cultures.

“I like to say that we’re like the United Nations of breads.”

When asked Fatiha if the job was what she expected it would be, she smiled and said, “Yes.”

“So I love this program. We learn a lot of stuff. We work like a family.”

Experts say there are twenty to forty thousand lions in Africa. There are even more leopards⁷. But, their numbers are sharply lower than they were 20 years ago. Now, Zambia has decided to act to slow the loss of these extraordinary animals. Caty Weaver⁸ tells us more.

In January, Zambia banned the hunting of lions and leopards in several areas. The country’s Tourism Minister Sylvia Masebo says Zambia has not fully⁹ profited from permitting hunting by visitors.

Ms. Masebo says a number of the parks have areas that private businesses pay to use for safari¹⁰ hunting operations. Recently the government advertised 19 game management areas for safari hunting. But Ms. Masebo says the process was marred¹¹ by corruption¹².

The hunting ban covers those 19 areas. However, there are other national park areas where safari hunting will still be permitted. And Ms. Masebo says there is no ban on private game properties that are fenced and have the legal permits for hunting. But the surrounding community will now play a part in such operations.

“We need to ensure that the people that come from these areas must benefit. The government itself must benefit. The animals themselves must be protected.”

Gavin Robinson is chairman of the Professional Hunters Association of Zambia. He says the ban in the 19 areas means fewer jobs for professional hunters in Zambia. And he does not share the government’s concern about the lion population in the country.

“We have always looked after the remaining lion to ensure that we have lion for the following year. We as professional hunters are very involved in conservation.”

The ban in Zambia follows similar action in Botswana. That country announced last November that it would ban sport hunting in 2014. I’m Caty Weaver.

China has become a huge market for films. It is second only to North America. China is also extending it entertainment work with other countries. And this is changing the way the American film industry does business. Steve Ember has a front row seat.

A foreign army invaded the United States in last year’s remake of the movie “Red Dawn.” But the filmmakers changed the movie just before its release. The invaders¹³ had originally been Chinese soldiers. They became North Koreans. The “Red Dawn” filmmaker did not want to offend Chinese audiences or censors¹⁴.

A team of censors in China watches movies to decide if they contain offensive material. The James Bond movie “Skyfall” had parts removed for that reason. And, the censors cut 40 minutes from the recent film “Cloud Atlas¹⁵.” Most of the scenes showed sex and violence. But, films also may be cut if they are judged critical of China or its government.

Stanley Rosen is a Chinese film and culture expert at the University of Southern California. He says Chinese censors also influenced other films, like the disaster story “2012.”

“Even if you’re not shooting in China, a film like ‘2012’ will be very careful to include positive references to China. Negative references will simply kill the market.”

Stanley Rosen says more Hollywood studios are finding Chinese partners for joint¹⁶ productions. Hollywood needs China because the North American market has not been strong, the professor believes. But, he says, China needs Hollywood as well.

I’m Steve Ember.

And that’s AS IT IS for today. I’m Jim Tedder.

1 tedder   

n.（干草）翻晒者，翻晒机

参考例句：

• Jim Tedder has more. 吉姆？特德将给我们做更多的介绍。 来自互联网
• Jim Tedder tells us more. 吉姆？泰德给我们带来更详细的报道。 来自互联网

2 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

3 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

4 raisin   

n.葡萄干

参考例句：

• They baked us raisin bread.他们给我们烤葡萄干面包。
• You can also make raisin scones.你也可以做葡萄干烤饼。

5 immigrate   

v.（从外国）移来，移居入境

参考例句：

• 10,000 people are expected to immigrate in the next two years.接下来的两年里预计有10，000人会移民至此。
• Only few plants can immigrate to the island.只有很少的植物能够移植到这座岛上。

6 trajectory   

n.弹道，轨道

参考例句：

• It is not difficult to sketch the subsequent trajectory.很容易描绘出它们最终的轨迹。
• The path followed by a projectile is called its trajectory.抛物体所循的路径称为它的轨道。

7 leopards   

n.豹( leopard的名词复数 )；本性难移

参考例句：

• Lions, tigers and leopards are all cats. 狮、虎和豹都是猫科动物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• For example, airlines never ship leopards and canaries on the same flight. 例如，飞机上从来不会同时运送豹和金丝雀。 来自英语晨读30分（初三）

8 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。

9 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

10 safari   

n.远征旅行(探险、考察)；探险队，狩猎队

参考例句：

• When we go on safari we like to cook on an open fire.我们远行狩猎时，喜欢露天生火做饭。
• They went on safari searching for the rare black rhinoceros.他们进行探险旅行，搜寻那稀有的黑犀牛。

11 marred   

adj. 被损毁, 污损的

参考例句：

• The game was marred by the behaviour of drunken fans. 喝醉了的球迷行为不轨，把比赛给搅了。
• Bad diction marred the effectiveness of his speech. 措词不当影响了他演说的效果。

12 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。

13 invaders   

入侵者，侵略者，侵入物( invader的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They prepared to repel the invaders. 他们准备赶走侵略军。
• The family has traced its ancestry to the Norman invaders. 这个家族将自己的世系追溯到诺曼征服者。

14 censors   

删剪（书籍、电影等中被认为犯忌、违反道德或政治上危险的内容）( censor的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• The censors eviscerated the book to make it inoffensive to the President. 审查员删去了该书的精华以取悦于总统。
• The censors let out not a word. 检察官一字也不发。

15 atlas   

n.地图册，图表集

参考例句：

• He reached down the atlas from the top shelf.他从书架顶层取下地图集。
• The atlas contains forty maps,including three of Great Britain.这本地图集有40幅地图，其中包括3幅英国地图。

16 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。