Who Writes the President’s Speeches?

The president of the United States must be an orator. The president gives an annual address on the State of the Union and speaks at the inauguration and other special events. 【小题1】 In his Gettysburg Address, Abraham Lincoln spoke fewer than 300 words, but those words have become memorable. Franklin D. Roosevelt set the standard for later presidents in his 30 “fireside chats”, which aired on the radio and dealt with the Great Depression and World War II.

Beginning with George Washington, American presidents often sought assistance with the content and wording of their speeches, although they may have done the writing themselves.

【小题2】 The first President to assign the task of speech-writing to an assistant, however, was Calvin Coolidge (1923-1929), the laconic president whose nickname was “Silent Cal”. The assistant’s name was Judson Welliver. (Today, there is a bipartisan organization for former presidential speech - writers, the Judson Welliver Society.) Since the middle of the twentieth century, the role of such speech-writers has expanded; the Executive branch now includes an Office of Speech-writing as part of its Department of Communications, Speech-writing and Media Affairs.

【小题3】 In his inaugural speech, John F. Kennedy urged Americans “Ask not what your country can do for you -- ask what you can do for your country”. George H. W. Bush, in his inaugural speech, imagined community volunteers and organizations as “a thousand points of light”. 【小题4】

The process of drafting a presidential speech is long and complicated, and different presidents make different contributions. Some write large parts of the text and invite criticism from assistants and advisers; others ask speech-writers to draft a speech in its entirety, and then they edit it to their own satisfaction. 【小题5】 The final product, whatever the process, must “sound” like the person who speaks the words. As one speech writer recently said, “Our concern was not to writer a good speech, but to write a good speech that is also his speech.”

New research shows sheep are clever

People often make jokes about how dull sheep are, but new research shows they may be cleverer than we think. Researchers at the University of Cambridge discovered that Welsh mountain sheep have brainpower that equals rodents (啮齿动物). Tests found that the sheep can map the area they live in, and some may even be able to plan ahead.

Young fish prefer noisy neighbors

A new study has shown that young fish like to live on reefs (暗礁) with noisy neighbors! Researchers from the universities of Auckland and Bristol found that young fish looking for a home choose areas where other noisy fish live. The scientists produced all kinds of sounds which had been recorded in different natural environments. The young fish seemed to prefer the sounds of natural reefs, compared with noisy animals! The scientists compared the choice to a music fan wandering around at a music festival, choosing to set up a tent closest to the music they like best!

Butterflies are disappearing

A new study has shown that 17 species (物种) of butterfly found in Europe have dropped by 70% in the last 20 years. The information collected from 3,000 sites across 15 countries shows it may be caused by the loss (减少) of grasslands covered with flowers. You can encourage butterflies to come into your garden by planting flowers.

While some allergies (过敏症) disappear over time or with treatment, others last a lifetime. For decades, scientists have been searching for the source of these lifetime allergies.

Recently, researchers found that memory B cells may be involved. These cells produce a different class of antibodies known as IgG, which war d off viral infections. But no one had identified exactly which of those cells were recalling allergens or how they switched to making the IgE antibodies responsible for allergies. To uncover the mysterious cells, two research teams took a deep div e into the immune cells of people with allergies and some without.

Joshua Koenig and his team conducted extensive research, analyzing over 90,000 memory B cells from individuals with birch (桦树) and dust mite (尘螨) allergies, as well as those without allergies, using RNA sequencing. This analysis revealed a specific type of memory B cell, termed MBC2, that plays a crucial role in the immune response that leads to allergies. In further studies involving individuals with peanut allergies, the sameMBC2 cells were found to increase in number and produce IgE antibodies during treatment s aimed at desensitizing (脱敏) the body to peanut allergens.

Parallel research by Maria Curotto de Lafaille and her team at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai confirmed these findings, showing an abundance of similar memory B cells in children with peanut allergies compared to those without. These cells were found to be primed to switch from producing protective IgG antibodies to the allergy-causing IgE antibodies. This switch is facilitated by the production of RNA for IgE, which does not translate into the protein until the cells encounter allergens. A protein called JAK, crucial for signaling this transition, has been identified, suggesting that inhibiting JAK could prevent the production of IgE antibodies.

By identifying and targeting the memory cells responsible for allergic reactions, it may be possible to predict the course of an individual’s allergy and potentially eliminate the allergic response altogether. Cecilia Berin from Northwestern University emphasizes the potential of this research to wipe out not just individual allergies but all allergic responses by focusing on the elimination of these specific memory B cells. This promising direction suggests a future where lasting relief from allergies could become a reality.