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International Headlines Concerning COVID-19; CNN Heroes Work to Help American Teens

CARL AZUZ, CNN 10 ANCHOR: Hi, my name is Carl Azuz. Three things I`d like to share with you right away. Carrots do not belong in cake. Stick shifts

are more fun to drive and Fridays are awesome. Now critics might call some of that fake news though not the Friday part. Here are three real headlines

to start off today`s show. One, the nation of India is still struggling to contain a new wave of corona virus cases. This is the world`s largest

democracy.

It has the world`s second largest population with more than 1.3 billion people and the number of new positive test it recorded on Thursday alone

was more than 412,000. That is a national and international record of new cases. The nation has also recorded a record daily number of deaths related

to the disease with almost 4,000 on Thursday.

Help in the form of medical supplies has flowed in from around the world but India`s government says it had trouble transporting those supplies

around the country. Second headline, Japan is extending its state of emergency with regard to COVID with less than three months to go before the

Olympics begin.

It`s only seen a small fraction of the new cases that India has but the state of emergency which will last through the end of this month, is

intended to reduce the viruses spread and help hospitals get a better handle on it. There are restrictions on some of the nation`s restaurants.

Certain businesses are being asked but not required to close. Fans are not allowed to attend sports events. Japan`s government, like many others, is

trying to balance COVID related restrictions with the desire not to cause more economic problems.

Third, the number of new COVID cases and deaths blamed on the virus continues to decrease in the United States. For the past week, America has

recorded fewer than 47,000 positive tests per day on average. The daily number of cases hasn`t been that low since last October and it`s declined

by more than 80 percent since new infections peaked in January. Medical experts have said vaccinations and natural immunity in people who`ve been

exposed to the disease are both playing a part in reducing America`s cases.

10 Second Trivia. What is the only U.S. city to have hosted the Summer Olympics twice? Lake Placid, New York, Los Angeles, California, Atlanta,

Georgia or Salt Lake City, Utah. Both Lake Placid and Los Angeles have hosted the games twice but L.A. held the Summer Olympics.

Our next subject today centers on a non-profit organization that was founded in Los Angeles 20 years ago. At one point, almost one out of every

five students in the L.A. public school system was dropping out before graduation.
 

drop out 脱离；退出(学校等)

In 2001, a former sales executive named Keren Taylor took action to help address problems like that. When she became a CNN Hero in 2014, Taylor`s

organization had helped several hundred girls graduate and go onto college. Now the number of teens it`s helped is several thousand and it expanded

further during COVID.

(BEGIN VIDEO CLIP)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I sat in our spot clicking my pen click, clack, click, clack. I don`t know yet who I am or who I want to be.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: My fragment of history, my beloved piece of the past, my grandma.

MS. KEREN TAYLOR, CNN HERO: Many of our girls come from environments where they`re really struggling with unstable family situations, violence in

their communities. Our goal is to really try and reach the most teens we can that are in the greatest need. Nice. Since receiving the Hero Award,

we`ve expanded to include programs for boys and co-ed groups.
 

co-ed [ˋkoˋɛd] adj. 男女同校教育的，男女同校制的

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: It`s going really well. We`re really pleased.

TAYLOR: We`ve also developed more programming for youth who are incarcerated or are systems impacted, on probation. Since the pandemic,
 

incarcerate [ɪnˋkɑrsə͵ret] v. 监禁

probation [proˋbeʃən] n.【律】缓刑

what we see it that young people have been slipping away. Many of them are not showing up at school, online.

We did 700 wellness calls to all of our girls and a portion of our alums to find out how they were. And what we found was, they were struggling with
 

wellness call: is an in-person call from local law enforcement to someone whose behavior has become suspicious in some way; 关怀电话

so many challenges, depression, anxiety, financial issues, learning challenges. Hello, welcome everyone. Since March of last year, we have

adapted all of our programs to be online.

Girls have been finding their way to us from Kentucky, Wisconsin, Florida, Mumbai, Brussels. Nicely done. About 100 of our mentors work every week

with teen girls online and we do a lot of special events and readings and a whole college program to help all of our girls go to college. Live a life

so you have stories to tell. Some of our girls have said to us that "Right Girl" has been a lifeline for them. One of our goals is to introduce girls
 

lifeline [ˋlaɪf͵laɪn] n. 救生索；重要航线；生命线

to all different kinds of writing, journalism, fiction, poetry.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: I love this workshop. We all watch TV movies and plays that today you get to write the drama or the comedy.

TAYLOR: We`re the screenwriting workshop. We have a song writing workshop. What is really wonderful about tonight is the process of seeing how a song
 

screenwriting [ˋskrin͵raɪtɪŋ] n. 电影剧本创作

comes together. At our song writing workshop, the singer/songwriters will take the lyrics that the girls wrote that day and turn them into songs in

front of their eyes.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SINGING)

TAYLOR: They see their own words in the hands of a professional.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Hi. No, that was so cool.

TAYLOR: And there`s this feeling of like, I wrote that. I can do that. I just made a song.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: (SINGING)

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: That was so good. Thank you so much.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: They were still hungry. The face of the mask fell down --

TAYLOR: We try to give teens the opportunity to read their work in front of a few people, then in front of 200 at our workshop. Then in front of 500 at

the end of the year season celebration. Before long, they become absolutely fearless and unafraid of the microphone.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We`ve learned that quiet isn`t always peace and norms and notions of what just is, isn`t always justice.

TAYLOR: Amanda Gorman (ph) joined "Right Girl" when she was 14.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: Dragonflies hum and vibrant foods breathe --

TAYLOR: Her and her twin sister were part of "Right Girl" for four years. She was always such a positive bright light, soaking up everything.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: She was, sort of, unstoppable.

TAYLOR: When we saw her perform at the inauguration, we could see the same things that we really embody at "Right Girl" represented in her.
 

embody [ɪmˋbɑdɪ] v. 体现，使具体化

Confidence, being willing to really be present.

UNIDENTIFIED FEMALE: We are striving to forge our union with purpose.

TAYLOR: Say something that nobody else has said before because you have your own way of saying things. Over the years, we`ve worked with 4 to

5 thousands teens over our 20 year history. It`s a big number. They`re doctors. They`re lawyers. One has just completing her PhD. Really exciting to see

all the different things they`re doing in the world and more than anything to learn that our alums want to be of service to their communities. That

they want to work of meaning is really the most exciting thing for me of anything.

(END VIDEO CLIP)

AZUZ: My dog would like to know what`s on your menu. Things you wouldn`t expect to hear at a restaurant but certain pet friendly Hilton Hotels in

Britain and Ireland are looking to reward dogs for helping their owners during the lockdown.

So they`ve devised a menu called "Bone Appetit", no I did not write that. It features doggy delicacies like "Beef Doginon", "Mutt Roast" and "Earl

Greyhound". Hilton says it`s a reward for pets developed with vets. And though we don`t know if that "fine" "canine" "dining" could cause

"indogetstion".

We bet "gourmet" "Sharpei`s" wouldn`t turn up their noses at "fresh dogligacies" like "Pooey Pork", "Griffon Do" and "Snicker Doodles" with

"Whippet cream". I mean, why wouldn`t they want to "chow" down on some fresh "mutton". I`m Carl Azuz and right now we`re going to Paris, Paris

High School. It is located in Paris, Arkansas. Thank you for subscribing and leaving a comment on our You Tube channel. We hope everyone has a great

weekend ahead and we hope you enjoyed today`s edition of CNN.

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