 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. Coming up on the program, Katie Weaver reports on an ingredient in cold medicine that experts now say is ineffective. Gregory Stockle has a story on how France has ordered Apple to end sales of the iPhone 12 over health risks from electromagnetic radiation. Belgium also has plans to study the radiation released from the phone. Brian Lin has a story on whether green hydrogen is a clean burning fuel. Later, Brian and Faith Perlow present this week's everyday grammar lesson on phrasal verbs using the word along. But first, here is Katie Weaver. American government experts who studied a popular medicine used for colds say the drug is likely not effective and should not be taken by mouth. Sixteen experts for the U.S. Food and Drug Administration examined the drug phenylaphrine. The drug is in many medicines that treat nasal congestion, a condition also known as a stuffy nose. The medicines include Sudafed, Allegra, and Dayquel, among others. The experts read a scientific review released by the FDA before they met. The scientific study said there were many mistakes in earlier tests of phenylaphrine's effectiveness. It said the FDA no longer accepted the earlier testing results. One of the experts was Dr. Mike Dykowitz. He is an allergy specialist at St. Louis University School of Medicine. Dykowitz said modern studies, when well conducted, are not showing any improvement in congestion with phenylaphrine. Phenylaphrine is an over-the-counter drug. Anyone can buy it at a store. A doctor's order is not required to purchase it. Phenylaphrine is the most popular decongestant in a market valued at $2.2 billion. If the FDA follows the advice of the experts, companies that make the medicine will have to remove it from stores. These companies include Johnson & Johnson, Baer, and other leading drug makers. The drug would remain in medicines taken through the nose, however. The nasal spray form of phenylaphrine is considered effective, and there are no plans to review it. But offering higher amounts of the drug by mouth is not possible, because it can increase blood pressure to dangerous levels. Researchers at the University of Florida first requested that the FDA remove phenylaphrine from a list of approved drugs. The same researchers questioned the drug's effectiveness in 2007. They said they found no difference between using the drug and using an inactive substance called a placebo. Phenylaphrine has been sold in different forms for 75 years. Dr. Theresa Michelle leads the FDA's Office of Non-Perscription Drugs. She said, anytime a product has been on the market that long, it's human nature to make assumptions about what we know about the product. The FDA reviewers said the studies they examined showed how quickly the body processes phenylaphrine. The research shows that too little of the drug reaches the area of the nose when the medicine is taken by mouth. Forms of the drug sprayed into the nose appear more effective. The reviewers said barring the drug from medicine taken by mouth would avoid the unnecessary costs and delay in care of taking a drug that has no benefit. The FDA has not updated its list of approved drugs to treat nasal congestion since 1995. The process for changing the list takes years. But Congress passed a law in 2020 that would speed the process for drugs that do not require a doctor's permission to use. I'm Katie Weaver. Belgium says it plans to study possible health risks from electromagnetic radiation released by Apple's iPhone 12 smartphone. Belgium's move comes after French regulators ordered Apple to stop selling the iPhone 12. French officials said the phone creates more electromagnetic radiation than the European Union permits. Apple disputes this. The company said the device meets all requirements. The French government agency that oversees wireless communications frequencies said it issued the order after the phone failed one of two tests. The tests are related to the amount of electromagnetic waves the body can absorb. Apple released the iPhone 12 in late 2020 and is not the latest model of the smartphone. It is unclear why the phone did not pass the agency's latest tests or why only the iPhone 12 is affected. France's digital minister said the iPhone 12's radiation levels are still much lower than levels that scientific studies found could harm users. The French agency said its tests do not test normal phone use. The national frequency agency on Tuesday called on Apple to use all means to fix the problem for phones already in use. It said it would study updates to the phones. If they do not work, Apple will have to recall phones that have already been sold, it said. The agency recently tested 141 cell phones. It found that when the iPhone 12 is held in a hand or near the body, its level of electromagnetic energy absorption is 5.74 watts per kilogram. That is higher than the EU requirement of 4 watts per kilogram or less. Watts per kilogram is a measure of the rate at which energy is absorbed by the body. The phone passed a separate test of radiation levels for devices kept in heavy clothes or in a container, the agency said. Malcolm Spurrin is director of medical physics at Britain's Royal Berkshire Hospital Group. He said the radiation limits are set well below the level at which harm will happen. He said a small increase above those limits is unlikely to affect a person's health. Users of the iPhone 12 should be able to download an update that prevents the radiation from going above the limit, Spurrin said. It is not clear why this model appears to release higher radiation, but it might be related to when the phone is seeking a connection to send or receive signal, he said. The World Health Organization says it has not found any harm to health caused by the use of mobile phones. Apple said the iPhone 12 has been approved by many international bodies and meets requirements for radiation around the world. Belgium's latest action on the phone raises the possibility that other European countries might ban the model after France. Italy said it would take no steps for now. But Germany's network regulator, Benetza, said that the work in France could act as a guide for Europe. The agency said that it might reconsider the smartphone for the German market if the situation progresses in France. A Dutch digital organization said it was looking into Apple's phone and would ask the US company for an explanation. But it said that there was no immediate risk. Britain has not announced any plans after France's decision. But a buyer's organization in Spain asked officials to follow France and stop the sales of iPhone 12. I'm Gregory Stockle. Being hydrogen has been presented around the world as a clean energy solution. But is this fuel truly clean-burning? And what does it take to produce it? Hydrogen is the lightest chemical element. It has no color, taste, or smell and can combine with oxygen to form water. To be considered green hydrogen, the production process of separating hydrogen from other elements must be powered by renewable energy. Hydrogen has been produced and widely used for more than 100 years, mainly to make fertilizers and plastics and to process oil. The gas has mostly been produced from fossil fuels, especially natural gas. Industry estimates predict the worldwide market for green hydrogen could reach $410 billion by 2030. This would double its current market size. Green hydrogen can be used in several industries, including steel making, concrete production, and in manufacturing chemicals and fertilizers. It can also be used to produce electricity as a fuel for transportation and to heat homes. Supporters say green hydrogen could be used to make these processes better for the environment. Francisco Boshell is an energy expert at the International Renewable Energy Agency in Abu Dhabi, the United Arab Emirates. He told the Associated Press that he is hopeful about green hydrogen being able to produce more clean energy. This could especially be true with energy from renewables like sun and wind power which cannot easily be stored for later use. Boshell said one problem with hydrogen is its unpredictability. The gas is highly flammable, meaning it can easily catch fire and requires special pipelines for safe transport. This means most green hydrogen will likely be used close to where it is produced. The Energy Transitions Commission is a research group based in London. Its experts said in a 2021 report that because hydrogen is highly flammable and difficult to transport, its use for heating buildings and other uses is limited. The Commission is calling for net zero emissions by 2050. The report said hydrogen is also less effective than direct electrification methods. This is because some energy is lost when renewable resources are changed into hydrogen and then that hydrogen is changed again to power. The report suggested that the gas could be used as a way to avoid storing electricity in batteries. Some studies have questioned the high cost of hydrogen production as well as its investment risks. There are concerns linked to a greater need for water than other clean power systems. Critics have also pointed out the lack of international guidelines that make it difficult for a worldwide market to develop. Robert Howarth is an environmental expert and professor of environmental biology at Cornell University in New York State. He told the AP he thinks green hydrogen is being praised too much, in part because of lobbying efforts by the oil and gas industry. But Boshell of the International Renewable Energy Agency disagreed. His organization has projected hydrogen demand will grow to 550 million tons by 2050. That would be up from the current 100 million tons. The International Energy Agency says production of hydrogen is responsible for creating around 830 million tons of carbon dioxide per year. Boshell said just replacing this so-called gray hydrogen, hydrogen produced from fossil fuels, would establish a long-term market for green hydrogen. The first thing we have to do is start replacing the existing demand for gray hydrogen, he said. And then we can add additional demand and applications of green hydrogen as a fuel for industries, shipping and aviation. I'm Brian Lin. Learning English has launched a new program for children. It is called Let's Learn English with Anna. The new course aims to teach children American English through asking and answering questions and experiencing fun situations. For more information visit our website learningenglish.boanews.com. Sometimes the Learning English program Ask a Teacher receives questions from learners that we are not able to answer on that program. The question might be more advanced and the answer longer than we have time for on Ask a Teacher. But the questions are worthy so in this week's everyday grammar we will explore Nora's question about phrasal verbs with along. Nora writes that she does not understand why we add along to such words as come, send and tag. She says that she does not see any changes to their meanings when along is added. Let's answer Nora's question about these three phrasal verbs. Along as a preposition means a line matching the length or direction of something. It could also mean points on or near something. We drove along the coast of Maine. We use along in this sentence to say that we drove on a road that runs next to or near the coast. We saw beautiful beach houses along the drive. Here we use along to mean points. The beach houses are the points. Along as an adverb has many meanings. We can use along to describe the forward movement of something. It can also mean to be in the company of or in addition to. When we add along to a verb we get these more exact meanings. Phrasal verbs are groups of words made up of a verb and another short word or words. Together these groups of words mean something different from what the individual words suggest. As a result you can think of phrasal verbs as kinds of special expressions. There are many phrasal verbs in English and often each phrasal verb can have different meanings. Let's try to simplify Nora's three phrasal verbs come along, send along, and tag along. Come along is our first phrasal verb. It means to go with or accompany someone. Usually that person is the one who leads the way. So the person that is coming along is the secondary person who is okay with someone leading them. Do you mind if I come along to the store with you? I just need a few things for dinner. Come along is a phrasal verb with other meanings too. It can mean to make progress. Your painting is coming along nicely. It is almost done. And lastly come along means to make an appearance. Blue moons come along every two or three years, usually. The next phrasal verb with along is send along. It has two meanings. The first meaning is to send something additional with something else. My sister mailed me a gift last week and sent along a letter from my parents. In addition to the gift, the letter was also sent. Send along also means to dismiss. Usually we can separate this phrasal verb for this meaning. The teacher sent the children along to lunch. Tag along is like come along. It means to follow someone else, but with an added meaning that the person tagging along might not be so welcomed or is just following the other person. It has a more negative association than come along. Sam's little sister always tags along when he plays outside with his friends. The verb tag by itself can mean to attach as an additional element or to follow closely. While both meanings share similarities to tag along, the phrasal verb has additional meaning tagged on. Today we looked at three phrasal verbs with the preposition along. Phrasal verbs have their own separate meaning apart from the original verbs and preposition, adverb combination. Come along and tag along are similar, but tag along has a more negative association. You might want someone to come along with you, but tagging along probably not. Send along has two meanings, to dismiss and to send something together with something else. Thanks for the question, Nora. We hope our exploration of come, send and tag along has cleared up some of the mystery around phrasal verbs. I'm Faith Perlow. And I'm Brian Lin. You just heard Faith Perlow present this week's everyday grammar. Welcome back to the show, Faith. Thanks, Dan. Today we learned three phrasal verbs with the word along. Are there other phrasal verbs with along? There are many more phrasal verbs with along. Two more that we often use in everyday conversation are get along and go along. Both of these have many meanings. One meaning of get along is to have a friendly relationship with someone. If two people get along, they like each other and they may have things in common or they just like each other's company. I get along with many different types of people. Other meanings of get along are to manage to live and to go away. How about go along? Go along also has multiple meanings. One definition of go along is to agree with someone or cooperate with them. For example, she goes along with her friends' ideas all of the time. She rarely makes decisions for herself. Other meanings of go along include to move on or proceed and to travel together or go with someone. Is that why phrasal verbs are so difficult for English learners? Because they have many different meanings? Yes, that is one of the reasons. We call these types of words with many meanings polycymus. Poly meaning many. There are many polycymus words in English. Even simple words like water have many meanings. Multiple meanings make learning the word harder because it is not a one-to-one match. One word, one meaning. Also the two parts of phrasal verbs take on a whole new meaning when combined. This adds to the difficulty too. Well Faith, thanks for helping us sort out a few of these phrasal verbs. I see what you did there Dan. Sort out is a great phrasal verb. That means to resolve a problem. I'd be happy to help sort out phrasal verbs anytime. Thanks for having me back on the show. 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. And I'm Dan Novak.