VOA，EVERYDAY

Recently we asked for your opinions about paying students to improve school attendance or performacne on tests. Some American schools are doing this. More of you were against the idea than were for it.

最近，我们询问了大家关于为了提高出勤率和成绩而付钱给学生的问题的看法。很多美国的学校正在这么做。大家有很多人反对而不是支持。

Some people said paying students sends a message that money is the only valuable reward. Steven from China says students should study for knowledge. Money may improve performance in the short term, he says, but we should think about the long term.

很多人认为，付钱给学生传递了一种金钱至上的信息。来自中国的学生Steven说，学生应该为了获得知识而学习。他还表示，金钱可以在短期内提高成绩，但是我们应该从长远考虑。
 
Zhao Jintao, a college student in China short of own says, paying students is like drinking posion to end thirst--try to thought the problem without considering the effects. DMT from Vietnam says rewards are important because they prepare students for a competitive life. But young children should get things they value more than money, like funning books, pens and film tickets.

一名中国大学生赵同学引用了一个成语，付钱给学生就像是“饮鸩止渴”——解决问题而不考虑后果。来自越南的DMT说，奖励是很重要的，会为学生提供一个竞争的环境。但是，年轻的孩子应该得到更有价值的东西，比如趣味书籍，铅笔，电影票等。

There was a suggestion from South Korea that if rewards are neccessary for learning, they should be gathered like a charity fund. This money could be used for a project designed by the students. Francisco Mora from Colombia says the city of Bogota pays parents, so children do not have to work until they finish their basic education. This, he says, has increased the attandence in public schools.

有一条来自韩国的建议，如果必须奖励学习，可以建立一个慈善基金。款项可以用在学生设计的项目上。来自哥伦比亚的FM表示，Bogota补贴家长，孩子们在完成基础教育之前不需要去打工。他说，这增加了公立学校的出勤率。

Then, in 1929, the stock market crashed. Between 1930 and 1933 almost ten thousand banks failed.
1929年，股市大崩盘。1930到1933年间，近一万家银行倒闭。

Congress past a banking act in 1933 known as the Glass-Steagall Act. In banned commercial banks from buying and selling securities. Their job was to pay intested on savings and lend to borrowers.

1933年，国会通过了一项银行法，Glass-Steagall法案。该法案禁止商业银行从事证券的买卖，它们的业务是支付利息和贷款业务。

This ban remained untill 1999. That year the Gramm-Leach-Bliley Act permitted commercial banks to deal in securities and sell insurance. They can again own investment companies that underwrite securities.

这项禁令一直沿用到1999年。G.L.B.法案允许商业银行经营证券和保险业务，还可以重新拥有承销证券的投资公司。

Many banks now regret that they got involed with high-risk mortgage securities. The collapse last month of the nation's fifth largest investment banks, Bear Stearns, showed the risks. The International Monetary Fund says total losses related to American subprime mortgages could reach almost one trillion dollars.

现在，很多银行后悔涉及了高风险的抵押证券。上个月全美第五大投资银行贝尔斯特恩的倒闭，表明了这一点。国际货币基金组织表示，涉及美国次贷的损失近一万亿美元。

On March 17th, the Federal Reserve started offering loans to investment banks, as it does for other banks. The program will continue for at least six months. The central bank used a power described in section 13 of the Federal Reserve Act. But this power has not been used since the law was updated in 1932.

三月十七日，美联储开始为投资银行提供贷款，就像为其他银行所作的一样。这项计划至少持续六个月。中央银行使用了联邦储备法案的第十三章所赋予的力量。但这个力量从1932年法律修订后从来没有使用过。

Schools are urged to prepare more students to take algebra by the eighth grade. Many people think math succeess depends largely on natural talent or ability. The experts say it depends on effort.  Studies have shown children improve in math when they believe that their efforts to learn make them smarter.

学习被督促让更多的学生在八年级学习代数。很多人认为学好数学要依靠天赋和能力。专家们则认为要依靠努力。研究显示，当学生们相信努力学好数学是让他们变的更聪明时，他们就会进步。

The report also calls for strengthening the math preparation of elementary and middle school teachers. And it urges publishers to shorten math books, which are often up to a thousand pages long. The panel said math books are much smaller in many nations where students do better in math than American children.

报告呼吁加强初中和高中教师的数学储备。同时督促出版者缩短课本的长度，通常教材长达上千页。小组表示，很过国家的数学课本更小，但是成绩比美国的学生更好。

Publisher say American textbooks have to meet the goals of different states for what should be taught in each grade. The report also calls for more research on effects of using calculators. Many algebra teachers expressed concern about their use in the lower grades. And the report says gifted students who can move though the material much faster than others should be permitted to do so.

出版商说，每个年级都需要教授不同的内容，美国的教材不得不与各个州的的目标相适应。报告还呼吁对使用计算器的效果做更多的研究。许多教师表达了对低年级生使用计算器问题的关心。同时报告支持，那些天赋比较好的学生应该被允许这么做，因为他们比其他的学生领会知识更快。

The math panel says the educational system needs major changes. If not, it warns that the United States will lose the mathematics leadership it possessed during the most 20th century.

数学小组指出，教育体系需要大的改变。否则，小组警告说，美国将会失去在20世纪大部分时候在数学领域所占有的领导地位。

Being over weight can lead to high blood pressure, diabetes and heart attacks. But now there may be another reason to lose the fat, especilly around the middle of the body. A reason study suggested that poeple in their forties with belly fat have an increased risk of dementia later in life.

肥胖可以导致高血压，糖尿病和心脏病。但是现在又出现了另一个减少脂肪（特别是身体中部的脂肪）的原因。理由是，研究发现，在四十多岁的时候腹部肥胖的人，在老年会更加患痴呆症的危险。

Dementia is the name for a group of brain disorders that affect memory, behavior, learning and language. Alzheimer's disease is the most common cause. Dementia rarely appears before the age of sixty. The new study added to growing evidence that people with large stomachs can face greater health risks than others who are over weight.

痴呆是对一个大脑紊乱症状的总称，它会影响记忆力，行为，理解力和语言。阿兹海默症是最常见的病因。痴呆很少出现在60岁之前。新的研究成果表明，腹部肥胖的人比其他的肥胖者要面临更大的健康危险。

The study involved more than 6,000 Northern California members of Kaiser Permanente, a health care organization. Researchers looked at the patients' medical records from between 1964 and 1973. The people were in their early to mid-forties at the time. They were all part of long-term health study that included measurement of belly fat.

这项研究覆盖了北卡罗来纳州一个叫做KP的保健组织的超过6000名的会员。研究者回顾了这些病人在1964年至1973年的医疗记录。当时这些人正处在40-45岁之间。他们都参加了一项长期的健康研究，包括测量腹部脂肪。

The researchers compared the records with those from when the patients were in their seventies. By that time, almost one out of six of them had dementia. The researchers found that dementia was more common in those with wilder bellies.

研究者比较了这些记录和病人在70岁时的记录。那时候，几乎六分之一的人患上了痴呆。研究者发现患痴呆在腹部肥胖者中更为普遍。

A new study says Asia must do more to prevent AIDS, or the number of people infected with HIV could double by 2020. Today about 5 million people in Asia are living with the virus that casuse AIDS.

一项新的研究显示，亚洲必须采取更多的措施预防艾滋病，否则到了2020年，感染艾滋病的人数会成倍增加。目前在亚洲，大约有500万人感染了能引起艾滋病的HIV病毒。

An estimated  300,000 people died of HIV-related the disease in Asia last year. At current rates, that number could rise to almost 500,000. The United Nations program on HIV/AIDS requested the study, led by the Indian economist CR.

据估计，去年亚洲有30万人死于与HIV病毒相关的疾病。按照这样的速度，这一数字会达到50万。联合国预防艾滋病计划要求进行研究，由印度经济学家CR领导。

The report says three main groups are driving the spread of AIDS in Asia. One group is sex-workers and the man who use them. Another is injection drug users who share needles. And  the third group are men who have unprotected sex with other men.

报告指出，三大主要的团体主导了艾滋病在亚洲的扩散。一个组织是性工作者和嫖娼者。另一个是共用针头的注射吸毒着。第三个是没有采取保护措施的同性性行为者。

Researchers estimate that as many as ten million women in Asia sell sex. At least 75 million young men buy on a regular basis. In many Asian countries, these men, and their female partners, represent the largest group of people living with HIV. The study found  that AIDS is the most likely cause of death and lost work for people in Asia between the ages of 15 and 44.

研究者们估计在亚洲有至少1000万的妇女从事性交易。至少7500万男青年经常参与。在很多亚洲国家，这些人和他们的女伴，代表了最广大的HIV病毒感染人群。这项研究发现艾滋病是亚洲在15至44周岁人群最有可能引起死亡和事业的原因。

This week, the National Association of Realtors reported that sales of exsiting homes in United States increased almost 3 percent in Februrary. It was the first increase since last July.

本周，国家房产经纪人协会报告了二月份美国现有房屋的销售量增长了3%。这是自去年7月以来第一次实现增长。

But feeling fueling that increase was a drop in prices. The S&P case-shiller index of 20 major markets showed that home prices fell almost 2.5 percent in Janurary. Prices were down almost 11 percent from a year before.
但是刺激成交量增长的因素是价格的下跌。二十个主要市场的S&P和CS指数显示了现房价格在一月份几乎下降了2.5%。价格比去年同期几乎下降了11%。

And still another report this week showed that sales of new single family houses fell in Februrary. Sales were down almost 2 pecent from Janurary to a 13-year low. The Commerce Department estimated there was a ten-month supply of newly built houses wating to be sold.

同时，本周的另一项报告显示二月份新的单亲家庭的房屋销量也在下降。几乎下降了2%，达到了13年来的最低。商务部预测新建住房将会提供10个月的销售供给。

Experts say prices in many markets will have to fall further before more people are willing or able to buy. Prices went up and up in rencent years, before the housing bubble burst. Many buyers now struggling to make payments took out loans that were too big. They thought prices would keep raising and they could sell their home for a nice profit.

专家表示许多市场的价格在越来越多的人愿意购买或有能力购买之前，会继续下降。在房屋泡沫破裂之前，价格会在近几年步步攀升。现在很多买家还在为了偿还以前购买贷款而挣扎。他们认为价格会持续上涨，到时候可以卖个好价钱。

Raising values meant that people could also take out home equity loans and lines of credit. They use their home as a cash machine by borrowing aginst its value.

增长的价值意味着人们从房屋贷款和信用贷款中取钱。人们曾经通过超过价格的借贷，把房屋当作了取款机。

Some American schools pay teachers more if their students improve on tests. Now, there is a growing movement to pay the students --in some cases, even just for coming to class.

很多美国的学校，如果学生的成绩好，老师会得到更多的薪水。而现在，渐渐出现有一种给学生钱的行为，在某些情况下，甚至仅仅因为他们来上课。

Students said one school in Mexico can earn up to 300 dollars a year for good attendance. A program in New York City pays up to 500 dollars for good attendance and high test scores.

在新墨西哥州有一所学校，出勤率高的学生一年可以赚到300美金。纽约有项为出勤率高和分数高的学生提供500美金的计划。

In Baltimore, Maryland, high scores on statey graduation tests can be worth more than 100 dollars. And a New Jersey school system plans to pay students 50 dollars a week to attend afters chool tutoring programs. Schools that pay students can be found more than one-fourth of fifty states. Other schools pay students with food or other rewards.

在巴尔的摩和马里兰州，在毕业考试上的高分至少可以值100美金。还有一个新泽西的学校系统计划，为参加课后辅导计划的学生提供每周50美金。给学生付钱的学校占到了50个州的四分之一。其他学校则采用分发食物或者其他的奖励形式。

Robert Schaefer is public education director for the national theater for fair and open testing, and actives group. He says paying may improve performance in the short term, but students develop falseforth expectations for the future. He seesays a lack of a long term planning in these programs because of pressureprecious on schools to raise test scores.

R.S 是一个促进考试公平公开的国家中心的公共教育主管。他指出，金钱可以在短期内改善状况，但是却会形成学生对未来的错误期待。他认为了这个项目缺乏一个长期计划，因为学校承担着提高成绩的压力。