Lake Victoria is the largest lake in Africa. It is also the second largest lake in the world. It is an important lake because it is one of the sources(源头) for the longest river in the world, the Nile River. Lake Victoria provides a source of water, food, and power(电力) for several African countries. Lake Victoria is a big part of African life.
   Unfortunately, Lake Victoria has a problem. It is shrinking. There are several power stations at Lake Victoria in Uganda. These are on the Nile River, and besides producing power, they keep the water of the lake at a certain level. For the past forty years, that level has been 11.9 meters. Over the last several years, the water level has dropped by about 2.5 meters. There seem to be several reasons for this drop.
   One possible reason is drought(干旱). Drought has been very bad in the area since 2000. Lake Victoria gets all of its water from rain, so the drought means less water in the lake.
   However, some environmentalists believe that the real problem is the power plants(工厂) on Lake Victoria. Uganda depends on those power plants for most of its power, and they made the power plants larger in 2000. Many people believe the power plants have been taking too much water off Lake Victoria. As a result, they have been asked to use less water until Lake Victoria goes back to its old level.
   Whether the low water level is caused by drought or power plants, the result is the same. This is already a poor area of Africa, where many people live a really hard life. People, animals and plants around Lake Victoria will suffer even more from low water levels on the lake. Many people need Lake Victoria for fishing or growing food. Fish need the water to live, and animals need it for water. Plants around the lake will die without the water, and then more animals and people will suffer. Unless the lake fills soon, many people will suffer and die.

A greeting is a way of saying "Hello" to someone. People in different countries greet each other in different ways. Here are some.

World Greetings

    A Bite of China, the seven-part documentary (纪录片) introduces Chinese food through the geography, history and culture.

A Bite of China is fill of &eat pictures of food, from expensive food to local food. The documentary shows Chinese food culture and how to make the delicious food.

    How to make dishes is only one part of food culture. The program tries to bring something new by showing more cultural elements (元素) about dishes, such as eating habits, and people's life. For example, one part tells China's history of rice growing. It explains why rice is the main food of the southern Chinese, while the northern ones mainly eat wheat flour (面粉).

    And a part about pickles(腌制食品) tells about a woman in Beijing. She returns to her hometown in Jilin and makes pickles for the first time for her lonely mother.

Another part shows happy moments of sons and daughters making New Year cakes after they return home from different cities to celebrate with their lonely parents in Zhejiang.

A Bite of China also shows social changes when showing food culture. For example, some members of a family work outside but leave the old in their hometowns - in this case, food can make people remember the happy time.

    This is a song， and millions of Americans will hear it on New Year's Eve. It is called "Auld Lang Syne" (《友谊地久天长》). It is the traditional music played during New Year's celebration. "Auld Lang Syne" is an old Scottish(苏格兰)poem. It tells about the need to remember old friends.

    The words "auld lang syne" mean "old long since". No one knows who wrote the poem first.

    However， a version(版本)by Scottish poet Robert Burns was published(出版)in 1796. The words and music we know today first appeared(出现)in a song book three years later.

    The song is played in the United States mainly on New Year's Eve. The version you are hearing today is by the Washington Saxophone Quartet. One of the 4 musicians in the group is VOA's Rich Kainfaite. As we end our programme with "Auld Lang Syne"，I would like to wish all of our radio friends a very happy New Year! This is Buddy Thomas.