 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, Maria Ritter Jr. reports on Japanese baseball star Shohei Otani's record-breaking contract. Anna Mateo has this week's Health and Lifestyle report on the approval of two treatments for sickle cell disease. Later, Andrew Smith and Joe Robbins present the lesson of the day, but first... One expected Japan's Shohei Otani to receive the biggest deal in baseball history. Over the weekend, the two-time most valuable player award winner received the biggest deal in team sports history. On Saturday, the Japanese star announced that he had agreed to a 10-year contract with the Los Angeles Dodgers, valued at $700 million. Olympics.com says the amount is higher than the $679 million for France's Killian Mbappe, with Paris Saint-Germain, in 2022. $674 million for Lionel Messi with Barcelona, in 2017. And Cristiano Ronaldo's $500 million agreement with Al Nasser. The total is also higher than the largest American football contract of $450 million, given to Patrick Mahomes of the Kansas City Chiefs. It far exceeds the baseball deals of $426.5 million given to Mike Trout of the Los Angeles Angels and the $360 million given to Aaron Judge of the New York Yankees. Under the contract, Otani's average yearly salary of $70 million is well above the previous high of about $43 million that pitchers Max Scherzer and Justin Verlander struck with the New York Mets. His average yearly salary is also higher than the combined salary of all players with the Baltimore Orioles or the Oakland A's this year. Otani's agent, Nez Balelo, called it a unique historic contract for a unique historic player. Another sports agent, Lee Steinberg, said he's rocketed into a stratosphere all his own. Otani started in Major League Baseball with the Los Angeles Angels in 2018. He is the sports best two-way player. He is one of the best hitters and also one of the best pitchers in baseball. He is the only player in baseball history to appear as both a pitcher and a hitter in the All-Star Games in 2021 and 2023. Otani was unanimously named the most valuable player twice in 2021 and 2023. But the $700 million deal was more than most baseball fans imagined, and many wonder why the Dodgers made that kind of investment in one player. Mike Lewis teaches marketing and sports business at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. He said baseball has sometimes struggled to gain national attention, but he's the kind of guy who attracts millions and not just from the U.S. Lewis compared the Dodgers' signing of Otani to InterMiami's signing of Lionel Messi in Major League Soccer. Interest in American soccer, especially on social media, greatly increased around the U.S. and the world. As of Sunday morning, the Dodgers' Instagram account had 3.2 million followers. Otani, on his own, has 6.3 million. No baseball player has received more interest internationally than Otani, especially in his native Japan. Japanese companies paid for top advertising spaces in Anaheim when Otani was playing with the Angels. His Angels uniform is the best-selling one among baseball players in 2023. Otani's uniform is expected to sell well, and many more Dodgers' tickets are expected to be sold, too. When Otani was negotiating with different baseball teams for a new contract, fans were following his movements and posting information online. The interest was similar to the level around popular singer Taylor Swift. Steinberg, the sports agent, believes every baseball team interested in Otani has already estimated how much money he would bring to the team. If the Dodgers were willing to pay $700 million to sign him, then Steinberg believes they made a good decision. He's handsome and he's a huge box office draw, Steinberg told the Associated Press. There are very few players who can match that. He has appeal to all. I'm Mario Ritter, Jr. United States health officials last week approved two gene treatments for sickle cell diseases. Doctors hope that the treatments will provide a cure for the painful genetic blood disorder. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration said the one-time treatments can be used for patients 12 and older with severe forms of the disease. One treatment is made by Vertex Pharmaceuticals and CRISPR Therapeutics. The other is made by Bluebird Bio. Sickle Cell Disease is a life-threatening blood disorder with significant unmet need, the FDA's Dr. Nicole Verdun said in a statement announcing the approvals. We are excited to advance the field, especially for individuals whose lives have been severely disrupted by the disease. Sickle Cell Disease, or SCD, affects millions of people worldwide. The disease is common in places with high cases of malaria, like Africa and India. Doctors believe being a carrier of SCD helps protect against severe malaria. It is more common among Black Americans, Africans, and Middle Easterners than other population groups. The World Health Organization said many children with the most severe form of the disease die before the age of five, usually from an infection or severe blood loss. A genetic change or mutation causes blood cells to become defective in people with Sickle Cell Disease. The unhealthy blood cells result in blockages called blood clots. The clots cause pain and damage to bones and organs in the human body. The vertex treatment is called caschevi. Its goal is to help the body go back to producing healthy blood cells that are present at birth. It uses CRISPR, the gene-editing tool to knock out a gene in stem cells collected from the patient. Bluebirds treatment, called lifegenia, aims to add copies of a modified gene. The modified gene helps red blood cells to produce a protein that prevents or reverses unhealthy cells. The two gene treatments are the first approved in the U.S. for Sickle Cell Disease. Vertex is already approved in Britain and Bahrain. The new treatments are costly. The cost for Bluebird Bio is $3.1 million and for Vertex $2.2 million. To help cover the cost, the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid says it plans to create partnerships with state Medicaid agencies and drug companies. Even with the high cost, many patients say they would consider the gene treatment because of the seriousness of the disease. Jalen Matthews of Louisville, Kentucky was diagnosed with Sickle Cell at birth. She had her first pain episode at age 9. Three years later, the disease led to a spinal cord stroke that left her with some paralysis in her left arm and leg. I had to learn how to walk again, feed myself, clothe myself, basically learn how to do everything all over again, said Matthews, who is now 26. Today, she deals with the disease by having blood transfusions. About every two months, the treatment replaces five units of her blood with healthy cells. She says she plans to ask her doctor about the new treatments. This one-time kind of cure is very much needed, Matthews said. Studies testing the treatments suggest they work well. Of 31 people treated in the vertex study with enough follow-up, 29 were free of pain episodes for at least a year. In the Bluebird study, 28 of 32 patients had no severe pain or organ damage between six and 18 months after the treatment. But doctors note there are possible side effects. They also say the long-term results are unknown. For both treatments, the required chemotherapy comes with risks such as infertility, hair loss, and serious infections. With the Bluebird treatment, blood cancer has happened. The FDA said it will include a black box warning about that risk. With the vertex therapy, some scientists worry that CRISPR brings the possibility of off-target effects. These are unexpected changes to a person's genome. I'm Anna Mateo. Anna Mateo joins us now to talk more about today's health report. Welcome, Anna. Hi, Dan. Thanks for having me. Today's story was about two gene treatments for sickle cell disease approved by US officials. For our audience that doesn't know too much about the disease, can you refresh our memory about what sickle cell disease is? Sure. Sickle cell disease is a blood disorder that affects red blood cells that carry oxygen to the body. When red blood cells lose oxygen, they turn into the shape of a crescent or sickle. People with this disease can have symptoms like anemia, which makes people very tired. People with sickle cell also experience pain episodes that result from sickle to cells that become blocked in a blood vessel. People with this disease are also more at risk of stroke and jaundice, which is when the skin becomes yellow. You said in the story that sickle cell disease is more common among black Americans, Africans, and Middle Easterners than other population groups. Why is that? Scientists believe the gene for sickle cell was formed in a gene mutation long ago. But people with the sickle cell gene were less likely to be affected by the malaria virus carried by mosquitoes. So people who survived malaria passed that sickle cell gene onto later generations. And those with African or Middle Eastern descent, places where malaria is more present, are more likely to carry the sickle cell gene. Hmm, that's interesting. And these two new treatments are gene therapies. Yes, Kastjevi uses gene editing, and LifeGenia adds copies of a modified gene. But they are both very pricey and likely won't be available to people in sub-Saharan Africa, where a large majority of people with sickle cell live. Thanks for coming on the show, Anna. You're welcome. Name is Anna Matteo. My name is Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. You're listening to The Lesson of the Day on the Learning English podcast. Welcome to the part of the show where we help you do more with our video series, Let's Learn English. This series shows Anna Matteo in her work and life in Washington, D.C. In Lesson 46, Anna discovers she has a little problem when she sees her friend, Marsha. Listen and see if you can guess what the problem is. Have a nice day at work, Marsha. You too, Anna. Oh, wait. Do you have pen and paper I can borrow? Of course. We are meeting at this restaurant tonight. What is happening tonight? Today is my birthday. We are celebrating at 7 p.m. tonight. Did you forget? Sorry, Marsha. I got to go. See you later. Don't forget. Tonight, 7 p.m. Listeners, do you know what the problem is? Anna gets worried and then leaves quickly when she learns that it is Marsha's birthday. So the problem is, Anna has forgotten Marsha's birthday. Next, we see Anna at her desk at work. I forgot Marsha's birthday and I don't get my paycheck until next week. I know. I'll make her a gift. I'll just have to borrow a couple of things. Amelia, may I borrow your stapler? Sure. I can lend you my stapler, Anna. But please, return it. It's my favorite stapler. When you watch the video, you will see that Amelia keeps her stapler, an office tool for connecting pieces of paper, in a special box. Amelia acts like her stapler is a very valuable item, like a piece of expensive jewelry or a special family photo. Well, some people really do like their office supplies. That's true. Now let's look at the language Anna and Amelia use. They use two very useful verbs. But these verbs sometimes cause confusion for people learning English. The verbs are borrow and lend. Anna needs to borrow Amelia's stapler. That means she wants to use Amelia's stapler and then give it back to her. Amelia gives Anna the stapler to use, but she expects Anna to return it to her. When you let someone use something but expect them to return it back to you, you lend it to them. And don't forget to use the correct prepositions. We borrow from someone and we lend to someone. Remember the borrower receives the item and the lender shares or moans the item. Notice that Anna says, Amelia, may I borrow your stapler? The expression may I is the polite way to ask when we want to borrow something. Next in the Lesson 46 video, Anna collects more office supplies. She collects paper clips, small pieces of paper, tape, elastic rubber bands, and more. And she borrows scissors used for cutting from Jonathan. What do you think she's going to make with all of those things? Let's listen. Happy birthday, Marsha. Thanks, Anna. I love birthday gifts. Anna, interesting. What is it? Well, I know you love hats and you need office supplies. So this is your own office supply hat. Wow, that is a lot of office supply. Many people loaned or shared their supplies with me. Some people really love their office supplies. It has paper, pens, tape, erasers, rubber bands, binder clips, paper clips, and a light. What is the balloon for? The balloon will help your friends find you. Let's try it. You get a seat in the restaurant, I will find you. Sometimes all the money in the world can't buy the perfect gift. Till next time! It's true. Sometimes the best gifts are the ones we make ourselves. Anna has made Marsha a unique hat that's spelled U-N-I-Q-U-E and means that it is very special and not like any others. In English we call a unique item a one-of-a-kind meaning there are no others that are the same as it. Yes, and this certainly is a one-of-a-kind hat. Anna took a small round container and connected all the office supplies to it. So now Marsha can walk around with a hat of office supplies. And a red balloon on top too. There's always something silly going on with Anna. But when we listen to Anna talk about office supplies we can hear a very common aspect of American pronunciation. She uses many words that end in the letter R such as paper, rubber, eraser, and binder. And on the Learning English website in Lesson 46 of Let's Learn English you can find a pronunciation video that explains this. Let's listen to it. In this lesson you hear Anna using many words that end in the letter R. It has paper, pens, tape, erasers, rubber bands, binder clips, paper clips, and a light. One difference between British and American English is the sound of R at the end of a word. In American English that sound is a strong R as in stapler. In British English the sound is closer to a stapler. It has paper, pens, tape, erasers, rubber bands, binder clips, paper clips, and a light. Now that Anna has made her special hat she needs to return the scissors to Jonathan and the stapler to Amelia. Yes, and she especially needs to give Amelia her stapler back. I think Amelia would be very upset if that didn't happen. You know, this reminds me of an expression that I learned when I was in Japan. It was, only a fool loans a neighbor his scissors. Well, you know, that reminds me, there is a famous expression in English. Wait, is that by the famous British playwright William Shakespeare? Yes, and I think you know what I'm about to say. I think I do. In Shakespeare's famous play Hamlet, a man is saying goodbye to his son and he gives his son some advice. And one of the things he says is neither a borrower nor a lender be, for loan oft loses both itself and friend, and borrowing dulls the edge of husbandry. That's some fancy English, but what it means is if you lend someone money you might not get it back, and so you might lose your friendship with the person who borrowed your money. And if you borrow too much money, then you might not keep your house or family in good financial condition. And that's because you will owe too much money. Hmm, I guess that is good advice. But, um, Jill, I was going to ask you, do you have twenty dollars I could borrow to take a taxi home? I forgot my wallet today. Well, I feel pretty good about our friendship, so for today, at least, I'm going to go against Shakespeare's advice and be a lender. Ha, I'm glad you are a lender be, and I shall give thy money back to thee. Now, you're just using fancy English for the fun of it. Don't worry, I trust you. Well, listeners, we trust that you enjoyed this lesson of the day on the Learning English Podcast. Thanks for listening. Remember that you can also find us on YouTube, Facebook, and Instagram. Thanks again for listening. I'm Andrew Smith. And I'm Jill Robbins. 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.