Drinking less, Parker Solar probe, Jack Frost

On this podcast, Bryan Lynn and Anna Matteo host the show. Anna tells listeners what they are going to hear. (1:14) First, Andrew Smith reports on recent finding about drinking alcohol. People once thought moderate drinking had benefits for the heart. But new research methods show this might not be the case. A growing number of public health experts now advise people to drink as little as possible to improve health. Earlier this month, U.S. Surgeon General Dr. Vivek Murthy called for changing his agency’s existing health warning on alcoholic drinks to include cancer risks. Such a change would require approval from Congress. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a... (7:28) Then, Bryan Lynn reports on a NASA spacecraft that is studying the sun. NASA said on December 24 that the Parker Solar Probe got closer to our star, the sun, than any past exploration vehicle has. The spacecraft, launched in 2018, has been studying the sun’s corona and the solar wind in detail. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a... (13:20) After that, Anna presents another Words and Their Stories program. This week, Anna talks about a “person” English speakers talk about when the weather gets really cold. Jack Frost is an imaginary creature. If we believe the stories, he is responsible for winter's cold weather. Of course, we believe science. But we still use his name when temperatures drop below freezing. Read this story to learn how to talk about Jack Frost. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a... (19:06) Finally, Andrew returns with Jill Robbins on Lesson of the Day. The two describe in detail the use of tag questions. They use Lesson 15, Level 1 of Let’s Learn English to talk about how people describe and talk about other people. Tag questions are important ways people confirm information they share. “It’s a nice day, isn’t it?” is an example of a tag question Jill and Andrew tell us. They also talk about guessing where people come from and mention the word stereotype. https://learningenglish.voanews.com/a... After that, Anna and Bryan sign off. --------- Learning English is Voice of America’s multimedia source of news and information for millions of English learners worldwide. We help you build vocabulary, strengthen your speaking skills and improve your ability to communicate for work, school and everyday life. We are not accepting comments here. You are welcome to comment on the stories at our website. EXPLORE OUR PLAYLISTS: » Learning English Podcast:    • Learning English Podcast   » Let's Learn English with Anna! (For children 8-12)    • Let's Learn English with Anna   » Let's Learn English Level 1    • Let's Learn English   » Let's Learn English Level 2    • Let's Learn English Level 2   » VISIT OUR WEBSITE: https://learningenglish.voanews.com » LIKE OUR FACEBOOK PAGE:   / voalearningenglish   » FOLLOW US ON INSTAGRAM:   / voalearningenglish   » FOLLOW US ON TWITTER:   / voalearnenglish   » SUBSCRIBE TO OUR PODCAST ON ITUNES: https://itunes.apple.com/us/podcast/v... Voice of America (VOA) is the largest U.S. international broadcaster, providing news and information in more than 40 languages to an estimated weekly audience of 326 million people.