 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, Gregory Stockle reports on the United States Senate dress code. Katie Weaver has a story on strangely shaped tomatoes. Anna Mateo joins me for a story on the American citizenship test for the Education Report. Later, John Russell and I present the English lesson of the day. But first, here is Gregory Stockle. The U.S. Senate's Majority Leader said this week that the legislative body will no longer enforce a dress code on its floor. A dress code is a set of rules about what may and may not be worn. Senator Chuck Schumer, the Majority Leader, said in a statement, Senators are able to choose what they wear on the Senate floor. I will continue to wear a suit. The change comes after Senator John Fetterman, a Democrat from Pennsylvania, has been voting from the doorways of the Senate to avoid violating the dress code. While other Senators wear business clothes or dresses in the Capitol building, Fetterman usually wears informal clothes like shorts at work. Schumer did not talk about Fetterman in his statement about the dress code, but the loosening of the dress code will only apply to Senators, not other employees. During his campaign for the U.S. Senate, Fetterman suffered a stroke, a serious medical condition that happens when the brain does not get enough oxygen from the blood. Earlier this year, Fetterman checked himself into a hospital for treatment on depression. When Fetterman returned from treatment, he started wearing more informal clothes, which he says make him more comfortable. The changes in dress code were met with disapproval from some of the Senate's more formal members. Kansas Senator Roger Marshall, a Republican, said it is a sad day in the Senate and that the people who Fetterman and Schumer represent should be embarrassed. Republican Senator Susan Collins of Maine agreed, arguing that the new rules discredit what the Senate represents. I plan to wear a bikini tomorrow to the Senate floor, Collins joked. A bikini is what one wears when swimming. Fetterman said he was not sure if he would start making use of the new rules just yet. He said it is nice to have them as a choice, but he plans to not use them very often and not overuse them. Fetterman said of his critics, they're freaking out, I don't understand it. He said there are more important things they should be working on instead of what he wears. Not all Republicans were troubled by the change. Missouri Senator Josh Hawley was wearing jeans on Monday evening. He says he normally wears informal clothes when he flies in from his home state for the first votes of the week. Now I can vote from the Senate floor on Mondays, Hawley said, noting that he usually wears a suit and tie every other day. A tie is a piece of formal clothing. Nearby, Connecticut Senator Chris Murphy was also without a tie. The Democrat said he has gotten in trouble with the Senate's official clothes police, called Sargent at Arms, in the past for not wearing a tie on the floor. They would tell us when we were doing it wrong, Murphy said. It is unclear if the rules for more formal wear were actually written down anywhere. But Schumer's statement means employees will no longer criticize senators for their choice of clothing or ask them to vote from the doorway. I think we should all want to be more comfortable, Fetterman told a group of reporters on Monday. He added that now that they have that choice, and if people want to wear a suit, then that's great. I'm Gregory Stockle. This is the time of year when many gardeners are harvesting tomatoes. Associated Press gardening expert Jessica Demiano recently reported about the many pictures of strangely shaped tomatoes sent to her from fans of her gardening advice. She said people sometimes question if the tomatoes are okay to eat. The good news Demiano said is that there is nothing wrong with the deformed fruits. Unless otherwise diseased, they are perfectly good for eating. Their unusual appearance does not affect their taste or nutritional value. If you have ever cut open a tomato, you know they are divided into internal parts called locuoles, which contain seeds and a substance called gel. Most tomatoes have about four or five locuoles. Other kinds of the fruit, like cherry tomatoes, contain two or three. Plum or roma tomatoes have two locuoles. But when a plant experiences temperature extremes, cell division in the developing fruit can go off track. Temperatures over 32 degrees Celsius during the day and 27 overnight can lead the tomato to form an extra locule. But there is not enough room inside a tomato for the extra part, so it grows on the outside of the fruit. Not every tomato on an affected plant will be deformed, however. Under the right conditions, temperatures that are too hot or even too cold, this could affect one or two tomatoes per plant, depending on where they are in the development process and what the weather conditions are, said Timothy McDermott. He is an assistant professor and extension educator at Ohio State University. The likelihood of one of your tomatoes developing a locule oddity is estimated to be about one in a thousand, McDermott said. Any tomato can grow an extra locule, but Damiano noted, heirloom kinds seem more likely to have this genetic mutation than hybrids. The extra locule mutation is not the only abnormality caused by extreme heat. Conditions including sunscald, blossom drop, halted fruit formation and ripening can also arise when plants are grown outside their usual temperature limit. Add shade for your plants when temperatures are predicted to remain above 32 degrees Celsius for several days. Attach a piece of 40 to 50% shade cloth to stakes inserted into the ground around the plant. Leave it in place from 12 to 4 pm when the sun is at its strongest. Then remove it to avoid problems caused by a lack of sunlight. And when harvesting your crop, remember, the funny looking tomatoes taste just as good. I'm Katie Weaver. The United States admitted over 967,000 people as new citizens in 2022. United States Citizenship and Immigration Services, or USCIS, said that was the largest number of people naturalized since 2008. To become a US citizen, a candidate needs to live in the country as a permanent resident for at least 5 years and be over 18 years old. After applying, a candidate for citizenship needs to pass an interview with a US CIS officer. In the interview, an official assesses the person for their English ability, knowledge of American history and government, and personal background. Over 96% of people pass the naturalization test, but changes are coming to the test that could make it more difficult for English learners. Caroline Quinn and John Schmelzer teach a free class in Montgomery County, Maryland to help prepare people living in the area for the interview. They said, it is most important that people are able to understand the questions the interviewer is asking. It is not as important to speak in grammatically correct sentences. The question the interviewer is trying to answer is, do these people understand enough English to be a functioning citizen, Schmelzer said. At the beginning of each class, Quinn and Schmelzer ask their students simple, small talk questions they might hear in the interview, like, how did you get here today? Or why do you want to become a United States citizen? Much of the interview is based on questions on the application for naturalization form called the N400. Most are personal questions related to employment, family, and personal history. Rajbiet Khan took Quinn's class and passed the naturalization interview in August. She said the class gave her more confidence to speak English in the interview. Before the class she rarely spoke English, she said, but now I talk to anyone. However, Quinn stresses to her students that her class is not an English class and she has students enter her class without enough English knowledge to pass the interview. With the increase in Afghan immigrants into the United States, Quinn said she has had a few Afghan women come into her class. She said they never had any kind of schooling, so they don't know how to write, they don't know how to read, they don't know letter sounds. Even family members with better English skills will fill out the N400 form for them, but they would be unable to answer the interview questions themselves. Possible changes to the naturalization interview would make civics questions multiple choice to reflect current best practices in test design. U.S. CIS said in a document explaining the update to the test. Schmelzer said that would make the test harder for immigrants who may not have a great understanding of American history or English. For now, students memorize 100 civics questions. Ten of the questions will be asked on the day of the interview, and applicants must answer six correctly to pass. One question is, name one war fought by the United States in the 1800s. Currently, people just need to memorize one war fought during that 100 year period, but a multiple choice test would require knowledge of four wars presented as answer choices, and know which one was fought in the 1800s. We're forcing them to expand their memorization, Schmelzer said. Another proposed change would add a speaking test to assess English ability. The officer would present three photos, and the interviewee would have to describe what is happening in the pictures. Currently, English knowledge is assessed through questions from the N400 and other small talk questions. The new interview changes are currently being tested in several locations around the country. USCIS will hear feedback about the tests before the end of the year. Quinn and Schmelzer said the test should be updated. Just one civics question is related to a female American historical figure, Schmelzer said. But Quinn questions what is to be gained by making changes to the test to make it harder. People in her class put their souls into becoming citizens. How much more do we need to ask them to do, she said? John Yepo is another of Quinn's students, who along with his wife recently became a U.S. citizen. Yepo came from the Democratic Republic of Congo. He lived in Zambia for 10 years before moving to the United States. Yepo, who works as a medication technician, said he follows American politics closely. He calls himself a life-long learner and has even taken online classes about American history. I want to learn and make sure I'm integrated into American society, he said. Yepo added, this is the land of opportunity. We are dreaming big. He said he will make sure to take advantage of every opportunity. I'm Anna Mateo. And I'm Dan Novak. Hello Dan, thank you for having me on your podcast. I have a couple of questions for you about the story we just presented. Sure, Anna, go ahead. Well, the story mentioned that changes were coming to the naturalization interview and that those changes could make it harder for English learners. Could you please explain those changes again? Yeah, so I spoke to two teachers of a citizenship class for this story. They said there are a couple changes that could make the test more difficult. One is making the civics portion multiple choice. Now applicants just need to memorize 100 questions and 100 answers. But making it multiple choice could make it harder. For example, there is one civics question that asks to name a war the U.S. fought in in the 1800s. Now the teachers tell the students to memorize the Civil War as the correct answer. But there are actually several correct answers. The War of 1812 or the Spanish American War, for example. Any of those could show up as the correct answer in a multiple choice format. For people that haven't been living in the U.S. for that long and aren't as familiar with American history or government, it's definitely going to be more challenging. And there's another proposed section in the interview that would assess English ability. Is that correct? Right. There is a proposed speaking test in which an officer would present three photos to the applicant and they would need to describe what is going on in the photos. I attended a couple of the citizenship classes. And just by speaking to the students, there was a really big range of English skills. Some could easily answer my questions and others struggled more. So I think a section to describe photos could be really difficult for some people. When would these changes come? The changes are in a trial period now and USCIS will hear feedback about the changes sometime before the end of this year and make improvements. So I would expect the changes to come no earlier than late 2024. Thank you so much for answering my questions, Dan. No problem, Anna. Thanks for joining me. In this report, John Russell talks to us about an empty village in the United Arab Emirates. We learn a little about the history of the village. We also learn about how it has become popular with visitors. Pay careful attention to the word reminder. We will talk more about the word after the report. About an hour's drive from the tall buildings of Dubai is an empty village in the sands of the United Arab Emirates. It stands as a reminder of how fast the Middle Eastern country is changing. Built in the 1970s, the village of Alhoreva was left empty 20 years later. Oil wealth has turned the UAE, home to the cities of Dubai and Abu Dhabi, into an international center of commerce and tourism. In recent years, the empty village near the town of Almadam in the Sharjah Emirate has become more popular with visitors. The village, made up of two rows of homes and a religious center, can teach us a lot of the modern history of the UAE, said Ahmed Sukar, of the University of Sharjah. Sukar is part of a team studying the area. Alhoreva was built as part of a public housing project after the 1971 establishment of the United Arab Emirates, a group of seven sheikhdoms. The discovery of oil 13 years earlier was just starting to reshape the country. The village housed around 100 members of the Alkhetbi tribe, Sukar said. They were one of several Bedouin groups that until then had led a semi-nomadic existence. They raised animals, traveled among the desert oases, and visited Dubai and Abu Dhabi when they were small towns. The modern cement houses were built with local details to ease the change to settled life. The inside walls were brightly colored, and some had mosaics. The homes also had spaces where village leaders could gather locals for meetings. One house had special paper known as wall paper, showing a land with green plants and trees, a big difference from the sandy environment outside. It is unclear what exactly caused people to leave just 20 years after the homes were built. Some say they were driven away by evil spirits. But Sukar says it is more likely that people left to seek a better life in the UAE's fast-growing cities. The village had limited electricity and water, and was often hit by sandstorms. Families would have also had to deal with long traveling times across the desert to reach government jobs and schools in Dubai. Now the desert is slowly taking back the village. Sand has blown into the homes. Only the religious center, or mosque, remains as it was thanks to regular cleaning by workers from nearby Al-Madam. Some descendants of the camel-mounted Bedouin who once traveled the desert sands still live in the Emirates' rural areas. However, many now live in cities with tall buildings, large shopping centers, and modern roads. Foreign nationals make up the majority of the UAE's population, and some have taken an interest in its history. It is also a place for them to record music videos and social media posts. On a recent day, groups of visitors walked through the abandoned village. I wonder why they left, said Nitin Panchal, an Indian living in the UAE. Could it be a genie? Could it be black magic? Panchal asked. We'll never know. The local government recently installed fencing along with a security gate, waste containers, and a parking lot. Officials made the changes because past visitors had caused damage to the village. The new measures have taken some of the mystery from the village. Danny Booth is from the Isle of Man, a British crown dependency in the Irish Sea. He said he had decided to come and have a look before things start to change here. Sometimes these places are better left undisturbed as they lose their charm when they become crowded, he said. I'm John Russell. Before the report, we asked you to pay careful attention to the word reminder. Can you remember when you heard it? You heard reminder at the beginning of the story. Let's listen again. About an hour's drive from the tall buildings of Dubai is an empty village in the sands of the United Arab Emirates. It stands as a reminder of how fast the Middle Eastern country is changing. Let's start by breaking apart the word reminder. The online etymology dictionary tells us that the word has Latin and Germanic roots. It consists of re, meaning again, and mind. That is how we get the verb remind. When we add an er ending to remind, we get the noun form reminder. It was first used in the mid 1600s. The verb remind means to cause someone to remember something. The noun reminder means something that causes you to think about or remember something. Google's Ngram viewer tells us that reminder has become more commonly used over the past 200 years. It also tells us that English speakers are more likely to use the short word a with the noun reminder. So in other words, you are more likely to hear English speakers say a reminder than the reminder. Let's explore some examples in everyday situations. At work, you might hear a person say, please send me a reminder about the documents, or I will send you a reminder. At school, you might hear a teacher say, that student needs a reminder about the class rules. We also use the term reminder when we talk about history or current events. You might hear a person describe an object or group of objects as a reminder of something. That is why the report described the empty village as a reminder of how fast the UAE is changing. And that's the lesson of the day. Thanks for listening. 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.