NBC & PBS (2007-9) (STORY 3)

[charliek]

LISTENING REVIEW SEPTEMBER, 2007

                                                                                              INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

PBS NEWSHOUR STORY3:  

FAA Official Discusses Flight Delays Across United States 

U.S. airlines are suffering major delays across the country. Federal Aviation Administration official Marion Blakey talks to the NewsHour about what is causing the delays and how the government is handling the frustrating situation. 

RAY SUAREZ: It's been, to say the least, a trying year for travelers: 900,000 flights delayed, 93,000 cancellations. They've dropped the airlines' and industry's on-time performance ratings to the worst they've been in 13 years, according to a report yesterday from the Department of Transportation.

The government says an increase in the number of flyers is somewhat to blame for the problems, as is the weather. Today, some passengers at Washington Ronald Reagan National Airport expressed their frustrations.

TERRELL REAGAN, Airline Passenger: My flight was two-hours delayed, no reason. Then I was told it was leaving at 1:45, which is right now, but it's not. It's leaving at 3:15. So they called to check on the flight, and they said, "No, it's going to leave at 2:00. Go stand in line, because it may leave early." So if it leaves early, you get credit for an early flight that's five hours late, I guess. Have patience.

DAVE CHURCH, Airline Passenger: Anytime you fly, I'd say you have a 50-50 chance of getting where you're going on time.

JANICE BLAKE, Airline Passenger: We're paying for this; we should get what we expect. They need to be on time.

RAY SUAREZ: The airline industry and the Federal Aviation Administration point to an out-of-date air traffic system as a big part of the problem. Congress is currently considering legislation that would fund the FAA's next-generation system.

For a closer look at that and what's causing many of these headaches for passengers, we're joined by FAA Administrator Marion Blakey.

And welcome. A third of all flights delayed. For the purpose of this conversation, what's a delayed flight, technically?

Defining the problem

MARION BLAKEY, FAA Administrator: Well, a delay is 15 minutes off schedule from what was projected to be the scheduled departure time, so there can be big delays or little ones. But, unfortunately, they're tending to be longer, and they're backing up throughout the system.

RAY SUAREZ: Worst year since the agency collected data, what would you say are the top two or three causes for that? What's pushing those numbers?

MARION BLAKEY: Well, you know, I'd say congestion, congestion, congestion â??¦ but we certainly had a bad weather season this summer. I think everybody who's out there knows that we've had thunderstorms piling up on each other. You know, you look at the Doppler radar, and you see a line of red that will really cut the country half the time.

So those are issues. But underneath it, we've got a lot of people who are flying, and it does back us up because the air traffic control system can't handle the kind of volume we're doing.

RAY SUAREZ: Are there also smaller planes being operated by a lot of carriers, and thus making the skies more crowded for roughly the same number of people as there might be on bigger planes?

MARION BLAKEY: You have it exactly. One of the phenomena is, of course, that everyone likes to fly point to point, and they like to fly on the schedule they want. That has meant the airlines have scheduled a lot of what we call RJs, regional jets, smaller but you can go a lot more places, and you can fly a lot more times in the system that way, all of which, you know, caters to passenger preference, as well.

RAY SUAREZ: Are certain routes, certain departure airports more vulnerable to this kind of delay, especially this time of year?

MARION BLAKEY: Oh, absolutely. In fact, when you look at the problems in the system, you have to say that some of the big hubs are really what's affecting the whole system.

JFK, La Guardia, Newark, the whole New York-area airports, they sneeze and everyone across the country gets a cold because there are a lot of connecting flights. Same thing is true for Chicago, for Dallas, the Washington area. We're seeing a lot of delays here. So, yes, there are real problems in the system because of congestion on both coasts and in the middle of the country.

Hard times for the airline industry

RAY SUAREZ: Now, with planes costing what they cost, many millions of dollars, you can't just have lots and lots of extra ones sitting around. But is it advisable for the system to be so tight that if one plane doesn't get where it's going exactly when it's needed, that tumbling domino affect starts with crews not in the wrong place, planes not in the right place, and people inevitably waiting on the ground?

MARION BLAKEY: Well, remember we have gone through a very rough patch for the airline industry. After all, after 9/11, there was a huge slump. There was a lot of constriction and demand, and we had lot of bankruptcies. That caused carriers certainly to reduce the overall number of aircraft, slim down in terms of cost.

And, yes, they are running, as we say, a very lean operation these days, which is great for passengers in terms of keeping down costs and fares, but, boy, I'll tell you there is almost no margin as a result when you have problems in the system.

In fact, what's amazing is we're running at almost 90 percent load factors. That means 90 percent of every aircraft have people in the seats. A cancellation, a delay occurs, and there's no back-up. Where are you going to put people when you have a problem? And that, again, causes everyone to be waiting.

RAY SUAREZ: Is there any penalty? If you're running an airline that's so tightly tuned that if one thing goes wrong, suddenly you're canceling dozens, scores of flights out of your daily schedule, what's the pushback? Does the federal government say anything? Do consumers get to say anything?

MARION BLAKEY: Well, certainly, we publish the issue of on-time statistics so that everyone can see. We think it's important that the airlines really step up and be very accountable for chronically delayed flights. And we also think it's important when there are major delays that there be certain basic things that passengers can count on, you know, enough food, enough water, medical needs being taken care of.

So there's a lot to this that the carriers need to do and should do, but at the end of the day we're going to have to have a different system to be able to handle the kind of volume, because a lot of people want to fly these days.

NBC STORY 3. Green Monster

Battling the worst weed

We are back on this mid-summer’s night, and this time of year, the beautiful lakes that dot the American countryside, the lakes that should be filled with swimmers normally are filled with something else. It’s a nasty problem. It has nothing to do with pollution or motorboats, but it’s nonetheless killing life in the water. Tonight NBC’s Don Tigg tells us about one community that’s refusing to go down without a fight.

You are looking at an active desperation.

“ We are running out extensions.           “

A 2 mile-fence spanning “Caddo Lake “ in northeast Texas, a last ditch effort to stop an invasion.

“ What we are trying to at Caddo Lake is draw a line in the sand, like at the Alamo sand[1] , you are not going to pass through us without a fight to the end. “

What they are fighting at Caddo Lake isn’t “ who “, but a “what “.

“There’s a handful of it. “

A ferocious weed called “ Giant Salvinia “.

It grows so thick on the water surface it eventually kills everything below it. Giant Salvinia is native to Brazilian rainforest.

It first appeared in South Carolina twelve years ago and grows so fast a handful can expand to forty acres in less than a month.

“ This is the most sinister aquatic plant I’ve ever dealt with. It just takes no prisoners. “

It spreads from lake to lake by boat trailers and has now infested more than fifty lakes from Virginia to California, including Lake Bistino in Louisiana.

“There goes my business. “

Where Richard Alegate’s water front RV park is now a weed-front, money pit.

“I’ve got all the investment in the cabins and all the investments in the RV park. I’m stuck. “

The plant’s latest victim, Caddo Lake, “ When I saw it here, I knew we would be in for a long, tough battle.“

Well, this fence will hopefully keep the weed confined to a cypress bog where it was first spotted six months ago.

The problem with this stuff is there is no easy way to get rid of it. Chemical weed killers have limited effect. They even tried burning it. But even a blowtorch won’t kill it, meaning hundreds of lakes across the country are at risk. And for now, the future of Caddo Lake hangs on two miles of orange netting.

Don Tigg, NBC news, Cattle lake, Texas.

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ REVIEW (3회)                         SEPTEMBER 2007                 INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 미국의 역대 대통령 이름을 딴 도서관들이 미국 어디에나 군데 군데 있다. 뉴욕 하이드 파크의 소박한 프레데릭 루스벨트 대통령 도서관부터 아칸소주 리틀록에는 좀 더 현대적인 도서관까지 다양하다.  

(the beautiful lakes that dot the American countryside, the lakes that should be filled with swimmers normally are filled with something else.)

2. 물고기와 기타 수생 생물들은 생명을 유지하기 위한 필수 요소들과 비타민을 물을 통해 섭취한다. 주로 피부 및 호흡기관을 통해 흡수한다.

(It has nothing to do with pollution or motorboats, but it’s nonetheless killing life in the water.)

3. 주점 운영업자들은 주점 고객들이 흡연을 못하도록 하려는 당국에 대해 절대로 그냥은 물러설 수 없다는 입장이다.

(Tonight NBC’s Don Tigg tells us about one community that’s refusing to go down without a fight.)

4. 자카르타에서 넘어지면 코닿을 곳에 있는 한 섬에서는 바다 거북 보호론자들이 바다 거북을 살리기 위해 필사적인 노력을 기울이고 있다. 

(A 2 mile-fence spanning “Caddo Lake “ in northeast Texas, a last ditch effort to stop an invasion.)

5. 세르비아와 러시아가 코소보 독립에 대해 절대로 안된다는 입장을 취한다면 이번이 회교도들이 유럽에서 자신들의 영토를 확대하려는 노력이 세르비아 영토에서 벽에 부닥치는 역사상 두번째 사례가 된다.  

(“What we are trying to at Caddo Lake is draw a line in the sand, like at the Alamo sand, you are not going to pass us without a fight to the end. “)

6. 이것이 가장 흔한 바나나이지만 사실상 먹을 수 있는 바나나 종류는 21가지나 된다. 바나나는 아마도 열대 아시아 지역, 특히 말레이 지역이 원산지였던 것으로 보인다.

(Giant Salvinia is native to Brazilian rainforest.)

7. 홍콩 영화 감독인 링고 램은 폭력에 대해 단호하고 현실적이며 끈질긴 접근법을 취한 것으로 유명하다.

(This is the most sinister aquatic plant I’ve ever dealt with. It just takes no prisoners)

8. 화학 살충제는 불필요한 잡초들을 제거할 목적으로 개발되었지만 인체 유해 효과 때문에 사실상 효과는 제한적일 수 밖에 없다.

(The problem with this stuff is there is no easy way to get rid of it. Chemical weed killers have limited effect.)

NEWS EXPRESSION‎ REVIEW (3회)                         SEPTEMBER 2007                 INSTRUCTOR KIM SOO-YEON

1. 미국의 역대 대통령 이름을 딴 도서관들이 미국 어디에나 군데 군데 있다. 뉴욕 하이드 파크의 소박한 프레데릭 루스벨트 대통령 도서관부터 아칸소주 리틀록에는 좀 더 현대적인 도서관까지 다양하다.  

(the beautiful lakes that dot the American countryside, the lakes that should be filled with swimmers normally are filled with something else.)

1. Presidential libraries dot the American countryside, from FDR's modest library in Hyde Park, New York to Bill Clinton's more modern display in Little Rock, Arkansas.

2. 물고기와 기타 수생 생물들은 생명을 유지하기 위한 필수 요소들과 비타민을 물을 통해 섭취한다. 주로 피부 및 호흡기관을 통해 흡수한다.

(It has nothing to do with pollution or motorboats, but it’s nonetheless killing life in the water.)

2. Fishes and other life in the water are constantly using the water as a basic source for essential elements and vitamins.  They are primarily absorbed through their skin and breathing organs (such as gills for fishes).

3. 주점 운영업자들은 주점 고객들이 흡연을 못하도록 하려는 당국에 대해 절대로 그냥은 물러설 수 없다는 입장이다.

(Tonight NBC’s Don Tigg tells us about one community that’s refusing to go down without a fight.)

3. Pub and bar owners say they don’t plan to go down without a fight in their battle with authorities who are trying make the patrons of their establishments stop smoking.

4. 자카르타에서 넘어지면 코닿을 곳에 있는 한 섬에서는 바다 거북 보호론자들이 바다 거북을 살리기 위해 필사적인 노력을 기울이고 있다. 

(A 2 mile-fence spanning “Caddo Lake “ in northeast Texas, a last ditch effort to stop an invasion.)

5. On an island just a stone's throw from Jakarta, turtle conservationists are doing their last-ditch effort to save sea turtles.

5. 세르비아와 러시아가 코소보 독립에 대해 절대로 안된다는 입장을 취한다면 이번이 회교도들이 유럽에서 자신들의 영토를 확대하려는 노력이 세르비아 영토에서 벽에 부닥치는 역사상 두번째 사례가 된다.  

(“What we are trying to at Caddo Lake is draw a line in the sand, like at the Alamo sand, you are not going to pass us without a fight to the end. “)

5. If Serbia and Russia draw a line in the sand over the independence of Kosovo, we may observe the second occasion in history when a Muslim advance on Europe halted on Serbian soil.

6. 이것이 가장 흔한 바나나이지만 사실상 먹을 수 있는 바나나 종류는 21가지나 된다. 바나나는 아마도 열대 아시아 지역, 특히 말레이 지역이 원산지였던 것으로 보인다.

(Giant Salvinia is native to Brazilian rainforest.)

6. This is the most common banana, but there are 21 species which are edible. Probably native to tropical Asia, specifically the Malay region.

7. 홍콩 영화 감독인 링고 램은 폭력에 대해 단호하고 현실적이며 끈질긴 접근법을 취한 것으로 유명하다.

(This is the most sinister aquatic plant I’ve ever dealt with. It just takes no prisoners)

7. Ringo Lam is known for his gritty, realistic, "take no prisoner" approach to violence.

8. 화학 살충제는 불필요한 잡초들을 제거할 목적으로 개발되었지만 인체 유해 효과 때문에 사실상 효과는 제한적일 수 밖에 없다.

(The problem with this stuff is there is no easy way to get rid of it. Chemical weed killers have limited effect.)

8. Chemical weed killers were designed to remove unnecessary weeds, but they have limited effect due to its harmful effects in or on the human body. 

---

[1] The Battle of the Alamo was a 19th-century battle between the Republic of Mexico and the rebel Texian forces, including both Anglos (ethnic Europeans) and Tejanos (ethnic Mexicans in Texas), during the Texians' fight for independence — the Texas Revolution. It took place at the Alamo Mission in San Antonio, Texas (then known as "San Antonio de Béxar") in February and March 1836. The 13-day siege started Tuesday, February 23, and ended on Sunday, March 6, with the capture of the mission and the death of nearly all the Texian and Tejano defenders, except for a few slaves, women and children. Despite the win, the 13-day holdout stalled the Mexican Army's progress and allowed Sam Houston to gather troops and supplies for his later success at the Battle of San Jacinto. The Texian revolutionaries went on to win the war.

A legend exists that on March 3, March 4, or March 5, Lieutenant Colonel Travis drew a line in the sand with his sword, and invited all those who were willing to stay (and presumably and almost certainly to die) to cross over the line. According to one variant of the story, all but one Alamo defender crossed the line. Moses Rose (a/k/a Louis or Lewis Rose), said to be a French soldier who had fought under Napoleon in Russia before arriving in Texas, allegedly slipped out of the Alamo. After evading the Mexican forces by moving at night, Rose is said to have taken shelter with the family of William P. Zuber to whom he told the tale of his escape.

[부엉님]

선생님~ pbs 본문이 빠졌어용.. ^^

[charliek]

고쳤어요. 미안.