レアジョブ英会話 Daily News Article Podcast

Attending the Masters for the first time was a new experience for Thomas Abraham, and it wasn't just about the golf. The 16-year-old from Houston had the rare opportunity to use a public telephone for the first time.

It was kind of cool, said Abraham, who phoned a friend while attending the Masters Par 3 competition on April 9 with his father, Sid. I've never used one before. I figured it out. If I had to use one of those (rotary) phones, I probably would've had to ask my dad.

Augusta National Golf Club requires its patrons to leave their cellphones and other electronic devices behind. In place of those security blankets, there are several public telephone banks of those throwback devices from days gone by. They are a foreign sight for many in the younger generation who've never seen a phone with an attached cord.

Abraham is not unlike most teenagers—or adults, for that matter—who are very much attached to the world through their cellphones. At some point, chances are, patrons check for their phone—patting their pockets, reaching for the clip on their belts, wherever it usually is.

And when they can't find it, well... It's kind of panic mode, Abraham said. We were at 18th (hole), and I went to reach in my pocket, and it wasn't there. Then I remembered it's in the car.

He wasn't alone.

I've checked my pockets for my phone no less than 10 times today, said Ryan O'Connor from Little Rock, Arkansas. I was sitting in the bleachers on the 16th green, and someone dropped a water bottle, and it made a loud noise, and I instinctively reached for my phone. Not there.

The line at the public phone bank can stretch up to 10 people deep at the height of the Masters. And while they provide an outlet for those looking to touch base with the world outside of Augusta National's gates, there are some issues that come with them. Like, remembering phone numbers.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

For parents who need to work but can't afford the steep cost of child care, federally funded scholarships can be a lifeline. Delivered through state child care assistance programs, the scholarships can mean the difference between a parent working full time—or not at all.

But qualified families are increasingly being turned away, thanks to the rising costs of child care and the end of pandemic-era funds, and some families that had scholarships have seen them end. In three states—Arizona, Colorado and Texas—parents who apply face long waitlists. Other states have increased copayments for parents or have said they will serve fewer children.

In March, the Trump administration laid off some employees who helped states implement child care assistance. It's left advocates worried about the future of federal child care programs.

“What it means is that ultimately child care will become less safe, it’s going to become more expensive, and it’s going to become harder to find,” said Ruth Friedman, who was the director of the Office of Child Care under former President Joe Biden.

In Colorado, a dozen counties stopped accepting new applications for the state's child care assistance program because they ran out of money, The Colorado Sun reported.

For states trying to maintain child care assistance scholarships, the costs of running the programs have risen. Because many child care providers operate on the margins, the Biden administration increased the amount they receive when they take scholarship students.

It's all evidence that the problems that vex the child care industry have not necessarily abated with the pandemic, said Karen Schulman, senior director of child care policy at the National Women’s Law Center.

“The crisis was going on long before COVID,” Schulman said, citing the unaffordability of care for many families, along with the low pay of the child care workforce.

Even as providers struggle to make a profit, child care is prohibitively expensive for many families. In a study of 2022 child care prices, the Labor Department found the median cost of care for an infant in a center was more than $15,600 in large counties—higher than the median rent in many places.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Seafood lovers know that fatty marbling is what makes tuna sashimi and sushi so tasty, so for the industry, it's the fish's level of fattiness that's used to judge its quality and pricing. Usually, several people assess how fatty a tuna is by cutting the tail with a giant saw-like knife, an operation that takes about 60 seconds per fish.

But now, a machine called Sonofai uses ultrasound waves to do the job in 12 seconds, operated by a person without prior knowledge of how to carve fish.

Fujitsu, the Japanese company behind the technology, invited reporters for a demonstration of Sonofai, a word blended from sono, referring to sound, f for Fujitsu, and ai, or artificial intelligence. The name refers to its components but also stands for son of AI.

A conveyor belt transports a whole frozen tuna, about a meter (3 feet) in size, into a machine that beams ultrasound waves. Sensors pick up the waves to draw a zigzagging diagram on a screen to indicate the fish's fattiness. Fatty meat absorbs fewer sound waves than lean meat, and AI sorts real data from misleading noise, or irregularities.

Hisashi Ishida, president of Sonofai, the startup behind the technology, who also heads Ishida Tec Co., which makes food-manufacturing equipment, says it's safer, more sanitary and efficient. Fatty fish tastes good, feels better on your tongue and is called toro, he said. Overseas needs are growing because sushi culture is now appreciated around the world.

Beef has a grading system for fat and expected flavor, but being able to gauge the quality of tuna is new, according to Hideto Okada, who oversees AI at Fujitsu.

But Sonofai won't be at your neighborhood sushi chef.

Fish-processing outfits and fishing organizations are the likely buyers. The machine is set to go on sale in June for about 30 million yen ($207,000) each, at first in Japan but expanding to the U.S. and other places later. They'll also work on future upgrades to test for freshness, firmness and other characteristics of tuna and other fish varieties.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Spring has sprung, and tulip mania is once again attracting social media trendsetters to the Netherlands' world-famous garden to see them. Around 7 million tulips are expected to bloom at the Keukenhof Gardens, creating a kaleidoscope of color to brighten up social media feeds.

The Dutch have been dazzled by these tulips since they were first imported to the Netherlands from Central Asia in the 17th century.

The Keukenhof is the perfect spot, with specially created giant clogs, floral archways, and pink velvet couches for people to pose and pout. They're trending on social media websites, attracting visitors like Austrian lawyer Daniel Magnus.

Whenever you see the kind of pictures which were taken from an influencer, they make something (an impression) with you right. You get a new impression of new locations, traditions, people and so it is very nice, they are inspiring you, … and that makes you, yeah, you want also to be there, says Magnus.

These blooms are carefully nurtured by gardeners here. The Keukenhof says well over a million visitors make their way here to see the 7 million bulbs that have been planted. The garden is only open for eight weeks, so everyone knows there's a small window of opportunity for social media snappers.

Gardener Patrick van Dijk says, The tulips, it's a combination of everything. The blossom, the blossom trees, primroses, the magnolia trees there's always something blooming. I think that's the reason why everybody's coming, there's also always something to see.

It's a very good representation because we've been doing this since 1700, and since then it's been an iconic flower for the Netherlands. If you say the Netherlands, you say tulips, says van Dijk.

The Netherlands Board of Tourism Convention encourages visitors by saying, “Make your image come alive and place the subject of your photo slightly off-center. This will make your photo look more dynamic.”

But not everyone is always happy with tourists taking photos.

Some flower farmers have put up signs and barriers to deter aspiring influencers from trampling tulips in nearby fields.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

It might look like the inside of a Minecraft universe, but this is actually in a new immersive attraction in London’s Canada Water, where a glowing orb unlocks a new way to play the game.

Visitors use it to mine, build and interact inside Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue. It's the game’s first immersive attraction in the UK and Europe.

Real-life models of Minecraft animals and props give the digital world physical shape including a pig, a giant bee, and a towering Iron Golem built to scale.

Olivier Goulet is Managing Partner for Supply + Demand, the creative media agency involved in designing the experience in collaboration with Microsoft.

He says, “We’re inviting guests to step into the world of Minecraft literally. Our first goal was to be truly authentic to the game and the brand. And I think we’ve nailed it from what we hear from the fans. … Second, you know, Minecraft is a game of discovery and crafting, and it’s free play. … So we have our own lens in the world of Minecraft, and we made it a quest.”

Guests use the orb to gather resources in each room, shaking it to unlock virtual tools and trigger scenes across the space.

Goulet continues, “That quest is to go save the villagers. So through the experience, we’re gonna, of course, spawn in the forest like we do in the game. We’re gonna craft some tools to get in the adventure and we’ll get into the village and realize that as we help the villagers grow their village, they get attacked … And we’re going to go on a quest to make the potion and find golden apples to turn them back from zombie villagers to villagers. It’s as simple as that.”

Goulet says, “We’re true believers at Supply + Demand in bridging physicality and digital, so this is not just a typical projection. You can touch and feel stuff as you can see behind me. It’s a mix of scenic fabric and scenic projection and physical blocks.”

The launch comes as the Minecraft universe expands with a new live-action film alongside a Netflix series and more global projects to come.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

New York City's bodega cats are beloved fixtures in the Big Apple—but they're on the wrong side of the law. The convenience store cats that live at many of the city's bodegas and delis look innocent enough, spending their days lounging in sun-soaked storefronts or slinking between shelves of snack foods as they collect friendly pets from customers.

Officially, though, state law bars most animals from stores that sell food, with bodega owners potentially facing fines if their tabby is caught curling up near the tins of tuna and toilet paper.

The pets' precarious legal position recently came into the spotlight again when a petition circulated online that advocated for the city to shield bodega cat owners from fines, racking up more than 10,000 signatures.

But inspecting bodegas is a state responsibility. The New York State Department of Agriculture and Markets said in a statement that its goal is to ensure compliance with food safety laws and regulations, though it noted that inspectors aim to offer educational resources and corrective action timelines and options before looking at fines.

Many fans argue that the cats actually help keep the stores clean by deterring other ubiquitous New York City creatures, like rodents and cockroaches.

However, some shopkeepers say the felines' most important job is bringing in customers.

At one bodega in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, a fluffy gray and white cat named Mimi has become even more of a star attraction after a customer posted a video of her to TikTok that was viewed over 9 million times.

Sydney Miller, the customer who shared the video, said the experience has helped her build a lasting rapport with Mimi's caretaker, Asam Mohammad, a Yemeni immigrant who has only been in the U.S. for a few years. Ultimately, the cats are a symbol of community building and the special, unique type of connection that happens in a city like New York, said Miller, a poet and digital content producer.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Australia’s opposition party withdrew election promises to prevent public servants from working from home and to slash more than one in five federal public sector jobs.

Opposition leader Peter Dutton announced his conservative Liberal Party had dropped its pledge that public servants would be required to work in their offices five days a week except in exceptional circumstances.

“I think we made a mistake in relation to this policy,” Dutton told Nine Network television. “I think it’s important that we say that and recognize it and our intention was to make sure that where taxpayers are working hard and their money is being spent to pay wages that it's being spent efficiently.

The opposition also withdrew a promise to use forced redundancy payments to slash 41,000 jobs from the 185,000 positions in the Australian Public Service. The reductions would instead be achieved through natural attrition and an employment freeze, he said.

Dutton’s announcements were the first significant policy shifts since Prime Minister Anthony Albanese called the May 3 election in March.

Albanese urged voters not to believe that Dutton now supported flexible work arrangements for public servants. “He’s now pretending that that program won’t proceed,” Albanese told reporters.

Members of the center-left Labor Party government have accused their conservative opponents of mimicking U.S. President Donald Trump and his billionaire adviser Elon Musk who has spearheaded the so-called Department of Government Efficiency efforts to downsize and overhaul the U.S. government.

“This is DOGE-y Dutton taking his cues and policies straight from the U.S.,” Treasurer Jim Chalmers said last week.

The government had argued that the opposition’s policy to reduce workplace flexibility would disproportionately disadvantage women because they often had greater childcare responsibilities.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

During the workweek, time to exercise can quickly slip away. But meeting physical activity targets by cramming workouts into the weekend could actually buy back time in the long run.

A new study reports that people whose physical activity fits a weekend warrior pattern might lower the risk of an early death from cardiovascular disease, cancer and other causes. The study defined weekend warriors as people who achieved 150 minutes or more a week of moderate to vigorous physical activity in just one or two days.

Compared with less active people, the study's weekend warriors were 32% less likely to die from any cause over a follow-up period of roughly eight years. Also, they were 31% less likely to die from cardiovascular disease and 21% less likely to die from cancer during that time. The results were similar among people who met or exceeded physical activity targets but spread their exercise across three or more days a week.

The findings were published in the Journal of the American Heart Association.

You don't need to exercise every day to stay healthy. As long as you get 150 minutes of moderate to vigorous physical activity each week, study co-author Dr. Zhi-Hao Li said in a news release. Li is an epidemiologist in the School of Public Health at Southern Medical University in Guangzhou, China.

This message is encouraging news for busy people who struggle to fit in daily workouts but can manage a concentrated burst of activity on weekends or over a couple of days, Li said.

Federal guidelines recommend that each week, adults get at least 150 minutes of moderate-intensity aerobic physical activity, 75 to 150 minutes of vigorous-intensity activity, or an equivalent combination.

In the new study, nearly 43% of participants were classified as weekend warriors, and almost 24% hit the physical activity targets by spreading exercise throughout the week.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

To raise adventurous, self-sufficient and health-conscious eaters, get kids in the kitchen.

It may sound too simple, but those are just a few of the benefits when kids learn to cook. Cooking builds life skills, promotes healthy eating, boosts confidence and strengthens family bonds—all while making mealtime fun.

“It helps to think of it as less of a chore and more of an opportunity to be together as a family,” said Jessica Battilana, staff editor at King Arthur Baking Company, which offers adult and children’s cooking classes.

The food doesn’t need to be fancy, and it doesn’t all have to be homemade.

“The investment parents make early on to encourage their kids to participate in mealtime will pay dividends later, when they’re able to handle kitchen tasks independently,” Battilana said.

“It can feel special to kids to be included in an adult activity,” said Cristi Donoso, 38, from Alexandria, Virginia. Donoso is a speech therapist and encourages her clients to cook with their kids in age-appropriate ways. She's also the mother to a 5-year-old, who has been baking with her since toddlerhood.

“There’s a lot of real-world learning involved,” Donoso said: math concepts, language skills and self-control. Kids learn by reading and following a step-by-step recipe. It takes concentration and other executive functioning skills. They also learn how to be safe in a kitchen, requiring self-control.

Exposure and sensory experience with food help kids become well-rounded eaters, she said.

“Your food experience isn’t just about sitting down to eat. It’s about making a list, going to the store, and feeling the fruit, she said.

Childhood obesity rates have been rising for decades, and studies have shown a positive correlation between healthy eating and home cooking, which can be a good alternative to ultraprocessed foods.

Jennifer Schittino, a Maryland-based working mom of two young children, wants to help them shape healthier habits for the future.

“It’s both healthier and cheaper to cook from scratch, she said. She also wants her children to understand the fundamentals so they can make healthy and nutritious meals on a limited budget.”

This article was provided by The Associated Press.

Fifty years after the founding of Microsoft, the CEO of its artificial intelligence division has a big task: develop a new product line that is as integral to daily life as the software giant's past innovations.

“We’re really trying to land this idea that everybody is going to have their own personalized AI companion, said Mustafa Suleyman in an interview with The Associated Press. It will, over time, have its own name, its own style. It will adapt to you. It may also have its own visual appearance and expressions.”

Suleyman laid out that vision on Microsoft's 50th anniversary in April.

The company's flagship product of this AI era, Copilot, already combines a chatbot with Microsoft's suite of workaday tools, from Excel spreadsheets and PowerPoint presentations to the Windows operating system that defines how most computers work. But Suleyman is striving for something that sounds a little more like science fiction—a technology that can form a “lasting, meaningful relationship” with its users.

“One that knows your name, gets to know you, has a memory of everything that you’ve shared with it and talked about and really comes to kind of live life alongside you,” he said. “It’s far more than just a piece of software or a tool. It is unlike anything we’ve really ever created.

Some of those updates—such as new “visual memory” capabilities that keep track of a user's digital activity, if they want that—rolled out on mobile apps last month. Other features are still in development, such as an animated avatar—a talking peacock in Suleyman's demo—that would embody a person's AI companion.

“It’s a super competitive market, but this is absolutely foundational to us,” Suleyman said. “Copilot in the workplace, Copilot at home is the future of the company. On the consumer side, we are going to be committed to this for many decades to come. We really think it’s the major platform shift that we have to win.”

Even as competition ramps up, so does wariness from Wall Street and big business customers about whether these AI products are worth their huge costs in computing power and energy.

This article was provided by The Associated Press.