Question: The campaign is over. The celebrations have ended. And the work for US president-elect Barack Obama has begun.

The 47-year-old politician rose to the highest post because of his stand against the war in Iraq and his plans to fix a weak economy. But what will the first 47-year-old African-American president do for race relations?

Obama's victory appears to have given blacks and other minorities a true national role model. For years, many looked to athletes and musicians for inspiration. As Darius Turner, an African-American high school student in Los Angeles, told the Los Angeles Times, "Kobe doesn't have to be everybody's role model anymore."

Recent polls also suggest that Obama's victory has given Americans new optimism about race relations. For example, a USA Today poll found that two-thirds of Americans believe relations between blacks and whites "will finally be worked out". This is the most hopeful response since the question was first asked during the civil rights revolution in 1963.

However, it's still too early to tell whether Obama's presidency will begin to solve many of the social problems facing low-income black communities.

Although blacks make up only 13 percent of the US population, 55 percent of all prisoners are African-American. Such numbers can be blamed on any number of factors on America's racist past, a failure of government policy and the collapse of the family unit in black communities.

It is unlikely that Obama will be able to reverse such trends overnight. However, Bill Bank, an expert of African-American Studies, says that eventually young blacks need to find role models in their own communities. "That's not Martin Luther King, and not Barack Obama," he told the Los Angeles Times. "It's actually the people closest to them. Barack only has so much influence."

In the opinion of black British politician Trevor Phillips, Obama's rise will contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations in the US.

"When the G8 meets, the four most important people in the room will be the president of China, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Japan and Barak Obama," he told London's The Times newspaper. "It will be the first time we've seen that on our television screens. That will be a huge psychological shift for both the white people and the color1ed ones in the world." 1. Who won the election?
2. Who might look up to him?
3. Who did they look at before?
4. Who else?
5. Who inspired them?
6. What was hoped would be resolved?
7. Will the president create miracles?
8. What will his rise mean?
9. Who would be at the meeting?
10. Where would it be shown? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers: 1. Barack Obama
2. blacks and other minorities
3. Martin Luther King
4. unknown
5. the people closest to them
6. relations between blacks and whites "will finally be worked out"
7. unknown
8. contribute more to multiculturalism than to race relations
9. the president of China, the prime minister of India, the prime minister of Japan and Barak Obama
10. television

Question: Today we bring you an old tale. It's the story of the three little pigs and the big bad wolf that blew down a house made of straw and one made of sticks. The only house left standing was the one made of bricks. Now there is new evidence to suggest that houses built with bales of straw can be very strong. They are also very environmental.

Pete Walker is a professor at the University of Bath in Britain. He and a team of researchers there have built a house made out of straw bales and hemp material. During the next twelve months the team will study the effectiveness of these materials in home building. Professor Walker says there are many good reasons for using straw.

Professor Walker: "One of the benefits is it's a relatively inexpensive renewable material that's readily available." He also agrees that straw takes in carbon dioxide as it grows and helps the environment in other ways. So it can be seen as having no harmful effects on the environment.

Professor Walker: "The straw bale walls are relatively thick and so all that straw provides very good thermal insulation. So we make buildings that require very little heating in the winter or indeed very little cooling in the summer. So they require very little additional energy."

Professor Walker says this reduces home operating expenses. It also reduces the effect on the environment. He says the current interest in straw bale houses is a direct response to the problem of climate change.

David Lanfear owns an eco-friendly home building service in the United States called Bale on Bale Construction. He says he laughed when some friends first told him about houses built of straw. But after doing his own research, he learned that building with straw bales made a lot of sense. He has now helped to build more than ten straw bale houses and says the building material is becoming more widely accepted.

To build the houses, he fills a wood frame with tightly packed bales of straw. Next he coats the walls inside and out with layers of clay plaster. He says the common ideas about straw houses continue, including stories about the threat of fire. Mr. Lanfear says straw bale houses have done well when tested for fire resistance. And he says his builders use the same building methods as traditional builders to keep out rain.

David Lanfear: "We use what we call good shoes and a good hat, and that would be a solid foundation and a really good roof." 1. Who is Pete Walker?
2. At what school?
3. Where?
4. What did he make?
5. With what materials?
6. Did he work alone?
7. Who helped?
8. Are they planning to study the house?
9. What about it?
10. For how long?
11. Is straw expensive?
12. Does it damage the environment?
13. Who owns Bale on Bale Construction?
14. How did he feel about building with straw at first?
15. Has he accepted the building material?
16. How many houses has he used it in?
17. Are they a fire hazard?
18. What kind of frame does the house have?
19. What are the straw walls coated with?
20. Does Walker feel these houses make the cost of operating a home less? Provide a numbered list of answers.
****
A numbered of answers:
1. a professor
2. University of Bath
3. Britain
4. a house
5. straw bales and hemp material.
6. No
7. a team of researchers
8. Yes
9. the effectiveness of these materials
10. twelve months
11. No
12. No
13. David Lanfear
14. he laughed
15. Yes
16. more than ten
17. No
18. a wood frame
19. clay plaster.
20. Yes