 Welcome to Learning English, a daily 30-minute program from the Voice of America. I'm Ashley Thompson. And I'm Dan Novak. This program is designed for English learners. So we speak a little slower, and we use words and phrases, especially written for people learning English. On today's program, you will hear stories from Brian Lin and Gregory Stockle. Then, Anna Mateo and Brian Lin present this week's health and lifestyle report. We close the show with the lesson of the day from Andrew Smith and Jill Robbins. But first... Kate, Britain's Princess of Wales, apologized Monday for any confusion caused by a photo released over the weekend. The official photo was the first image of the princess since she had a medical operation nearly two months ago. Kensington Palace released the photograph on social media on Sunday. It showed the 42-year-old Kate looking healthy and sitting and smiling in a chair surrounded by her three children. The photo was credited to Kate's husband, Prince William, and was said to have been taken earlier in the week in Windsor. In a message on X, Kate wrote, Thank you for your kind wishes and continued support over the last two months. Her message also wished people a happy Mother's Day, as Britain celebrated the holiday on Sunday. But shortly after the photo was published, some royal observers online began raising questions about whether the picture had been changed in some ways with image editing tools. After close examination, several major news organizations withdrew the photo, saying it did in fact appear to have been edited in some way. Because of these changes, the picture did not meet the requirements set by those news organizations. After the questions about the image were raised, Kate issued another message on X. She wrote, Like many amateur photographers, I do occasionally experiment with editing. I wanted to express my apologies for any confusion the family photograph we shared yesterday caused. Among the news agencies withdrawing the photo were the Associated Press, Reuters, the French news agency AFP, Getty Images, and Britain's Press Association. Photo editors for Reuters said their examinations of the image showed the left arm of Kate's daughter, Princess Charlotte, did not seem to line up naturally with her body in the picture. This suggested that editing changes had been made to the photo. Different news agencies have different policies regarding how much an image can be changed before being released. Both Reuters and the AP said the changes violated their editorial rules. Most news organizations generally only permit minor photo editing such as cropping and making light and color changes. The picture had already drawn widespread media attention online. This is because it was the first official image of Kate since she spent two weeks in the hospital after undergoing an abdominal operation in January. Her exact condition was not identified. Kate's office had said during her absence that she was recovering well and was not expected to return to her public duties until after Easter, which is March 31. I'm Brian Lin. Scientists have confirmed the presence of a gray whale off New England in North America recently. The large sea animal disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean two centuries ago. The scientists are thrilled with the discovery, but they say it shows the effects of climate change on sea life. Researchers with the New England Aquarium in Boston found the gray whale on March 1. At the time, they were flying about 48 kilometers south of Nantucket, an island off the coast of Massachusetts, in the Atlantic. The whale, which can weigh over 27,000 kilograms, usually lives in the northern Pacific Ocean. The gray whale disappeared from the Atlantic Ocean by the 18th century. But there have been five observations of the animal in the Atlantic and Mediterranean waters in the last 15 years. The aquarium said in a statement, The whale found this month was likely the same animal observed off the coast of Florida late last year, the aquarium said. The researchers who found the animal off Massachusetts said they were not sure at first. But after circling the area for 45 minutes, they were able to take photographs that confirmed it was a gray whale. I didn't want to say out loud what it was because it seemed crazy, said Orla O'Brien. She is a research scientist with the Anderson Cabot Center for Ocean Life at the New England Aquarium. Scientists said they were thrilled to see the animal, but its presence probably has to do with the warming of the planet. The Northwest Passage, which connects the Atlantic and Pacific Oceans through the Arctic Ocean in Canada, has lacked ice in the summertime in recent years, they said. That means gray whales can travel through the passage in the summer when normally they would have been blocked, the scientists said. O'Brien said the animal's arrival off New England serves as a reminder of how quickly marine species respond to climate change given the chance. Gray whales were almost completely killed off by hunting during the years of commercial whaling. Today, the whales have recovered to the point that they are considered a species of least concern by the International Union for Conservation of Nature. The organization, however, considers the western population of whales that live off the coast of Asia to be endangered. They can be identified by the lack of a part of a body often seen on other whales, a dorsal fin. Also, they can be identified by their blotchy appearance, which is different from the humpback and mink whales seen off New England. Gray whales can also be identified by the unusual sounds they make. I'm Gregory Stockle. From VOA Learning English, this is the Health and Lifestyle Report. British researchers say they have grown small human organs using cells removed from fluid that protects developing fetuses. These organs are known as mini organs or organoids. They are extremely small, simple structures. They could be used in testing of new medical treatments or to study the workings of full-size organs. The University College London carried out the study. Researchers collected the cells from fluid removed from 12 pregnant women during routine medical examinations at Great Ormond Street Hospital in London. The cells then were grown into organoids in a laboratory. The researchers said it was the first time such mini organs had been produced from cells collected during an active pregnancy. The scientists said they hope their method will lead to future methods for treating conditions present before birth. Mattia Jurley of University College London was a lead writer of the study. He told the Associated Press, AP, that he and his team were really excited about how their research might result in important new treatment possibilities. The findings were reported in a study that recently appeared in the publication Nature Medicine. Scientists have so far produced organoids that look like some human organs, including the brain, kidney, lung, stomach, and liver. Lab-grown mini organs are generally used to study how organs work without the need to experiment on real ones. The scientists looked for which tissues the stem cells came from and then identified cells from three organs, lungs, kidneys, and intestines. In the past, organoids could only be created from adult stem cells or tissues collected after an abortion. An abortion is a medical operation to end a pregnancy. The current method does not violate rules that govern direct removal of stem cells from fetal tissue. The amniotic fluid method permits scientists to get cells from fetuses during the latter parts of pregnancy. Governments around the world have different regulations covering abortions. In Britain, the legal limit for ending a pregnancy is generally 22 weeks after conception. This rule prevents British researchers from studying some parts of normal human development or diseases that are present past 22 weeks. In the United States, abortion restrictions differ by state. Most states banned the use of fetal tissue for research said Alta Sherrow. She is a retired professor of law and bioethics at the University of Wisconsin at Madison. Sherrow was not part of the latest study. Fetal tissue is defined by the National Institutes of Health as material coming from a dead human embryo or fetus. The tissue could come from a fetus that was aborted or did not survive because of medical problems with the pregnancy. The use of tissue from an abortion has long been controversial. Sherrow said the new method does not raise the same ethical concerns. And taking amniotic fluid during a woman's pregnancy does not appear to add any physical risks to either fetus or pregnant woman. Sherrow said in an email to the AP. As part of the experiments, the researchers worked with scientists in Belgium to study the development of babies with a condition called congenital diaphragmatic hernia. This can result in organs such as the liver and intestines getting displaced into the chest. About 30% of fetuses with this disease die because the lungs cannot fully develop. If doctors could identify the condition before birth, they could operate on a fetus to fix it. In the experiments, researchers grew lung organoids from the cells of fetuses with the hernia condition before and after treatment. When comparing those organoids to organoids from healthy fetuses, the team was able to use the lab method to identify the affected child's condition before birth. The scientists said this ability to study working pre-birth many organs is the first step toward establishing more detailed prognosis information and improving treatment methods. And that's the Health and Lifestyle Report. I'm Anna Matteo. And I'm Brian Lin. Brian Lin is here now to talk more about this week's Health and Lifestyle Report. Hi, Brian. Thanks for joining me. Of course, Ashley. Thanks for having me. This week, you and Anna Matteo reported on a study involving a new way to collect stem cells for medical research. We learned the result of this process can create very tiny organs called organoids. How do organoids created this way differ from others? Yes. So the researchers involved in this study said the many organs they created are exactly the same as other organoids used in medical research. These are very tiny versions of bodily organs such as kidneys, lungs, and livers. The only difference is the method used to collect the material. In the past, organoids have been created from stem cells taken directly from fetal tissue. The many organs created in the latest study were formed from the fluid that protects developing fetuses collected from pregnant women. And the report points out this new method for collecting the stem cells is not that difficult and is less controversial. What can you tell us about that? Yes. The researchers said they were able to collect the stem cells they used from pregnant women going to the doctor to get routine health checkups. And there were no suggestions that collecting the fluid this way had any effect on the women. And as was noted in the report, this method of collection also avoids the restrictions linked to getting samples directly from fetal tissue. So while these latest findings are still very new, the team said they see this study as opening up a whole new area of medical research in the very near future. All right. Thanks again for joining me, Brian. You're welcome. Thank you, Ashley. And I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. Welcome to the part of the broadcast where we help you do more with our series, Let's Learn English. The series shows Anna Mateo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. Today, we're going to use some examples from Let's Learn English to show how native speakers pronounce words when they are talking quickly. This is very important for understanding spoken English. And it's important for learning to sound more like an advanced speaker of English. That's right. And this is something you can listen for in many episodes of Let's Learn English. Let's get started. Where are we going to listen for first, Jill? Whoa, whoa, slow down, Andrew. Can you ask that again a little bit slower? Okay. Sorry. I said, what are we going to listen for first, Jill? Andrew, your question gives a perfect example. We are going to listen to the difference between slower and faster speech when we put together the words what and are. We are going to listen to some examples from Lesson 7 of Let's Learn English. Andrew, can you explain what happens to Anna in Lesson 7? In Lesson 7, it is Anna's first day at work, and she is excited to meet people. She also wants to know what they are doing, so she asks them, what are you doing? However, she causes some problems by accident. Let's listen as Anna meets Anne. Anne is busy writing when Anna meets her. Hi there. I'm Anna. Hi, Anna. I'm Anne. Nice to meet you. What are you doing? I'm writing. You are writing. You are writing a lot. Oh dear. No, no. That's okay. I'm sorry. Really? Please, please, please stop. Please. Sorry. Next, Anna says hi to Jonathan, who is busy recording his show. Anna has already met Jonathan at her apartment building. And people all around the world are waiting to hear news about the next president. Jonathan, hi. Remember me? I live in your building. Oh, hi, Anna. What are you doing? I am doing my show. Oh, sorry. Are you recording? Yes, and now I have to record again. Sorry. Have a good show. Thank you. Sorry. I think Anna is going to say, I'm sorry a lot in this episode. Yes, she is. But let's compare the way she asked the question, what are you doing in our two examples? Here's the first one. Hi there. I'm Anna. Hi, Anna. I'm Anne. Nice to meet you. What are you doing? And here is the second example. Oh, hi, Anna. What are you doing? You can hear that Anna says, what are you doing a little slower in the second example than in the first? Let's listen to the examples again, but only to the question itself. What are you doing? What are you doing? You can hear that Anna said it faster in the first example. But still not as fast as you said it, Andrew, near the beginning of our lesson. Let's rewind and hear how I said it. What are we going to listen for first, Jill? I did say it faster. So we actually have three examples, not fast, a little fast, and really fast. In your example, the words what and are get combined into one, water. Water, water, water. It almost sounds like water. Yeah, that's right. But instead of wa or water, it's wa for water. And here's how our listeners can learn more about this. On the webpage for Let's Learn English lesson seven, you can scroll down and click on the pronunciation practice video. Starting 55 seconds into the video, you can hear another example of the difference between slow and fast speech for saying the two words what and are. That's right. And in the first part of the pronunciation practice video, you can hear another important aspect of fast speech. Many times, the INGE at the end of words gets shortened to just the sound in. So if Anna were talking even faster, she would say, what are you doing? I have an idea. Let's listen to how the pronunciation practice video from lesson seven explains this. Is that what we're doing? That's what we're doing. Let's hear it now. In the present continuous tense, verbs end in INGE. In careful speech, Americans pronounce the G at the end of the verb. However, in fast speech, many Americans do not pronounce the G at the end of the verb. The result sounds like this. Writing. Doing. Reading. Here is an example. Careful speech. I am reading a book. Fast speech. I'm reading a book. Those are good examples. And the pronunciation practice video in lesson nine gives another useful example of how native speakers put words together quickly. Is it about answering yes, no questions? Yes, it is. Or maybe I should say, yes it is. Let's hear it. When Americans answer a yes or no question with yes, we sometimes say the words with no break. The sounds blend together. Here's an example. Listen. Is it sunny today? Yes, it is sunny. We write it like this. Yes, it is. We say it like this. Yes, it is. So those three words, yes it is, can sound like one word. That's right. And I think people learning English should pay careful attention to the differences between fast and slow speech. That might help them train their ears to better understand fast English. And of course they should take short phrases like what are you doing and simply practice repeating them faster and faster until it feels natural. It's like if you want to learn to run fast, well at some point you just have to try running fast. That's true. And the more you do it, the better you'll get. We have many more English lessons coming your way. So keep listening and exploring all of the programs on VOA Learning English. I'm Jill Robbins. And I'm Andrew Smith. And that's our program for today. Join us again tomorrow to keep learning English through stories from around the world. I'm Ashley Thompson. I'm Dan Novak.