What happens when an important river like the Mississippi starts drying up because of lack of rain? We find out in this segment.

The Mississippi River is one of the most important rivers in the world, but because of climate change, it is drying up at the moment, and that means trouble.

This story made the news because it is rather unusual and horse lovers will especially appreciate how important the story was for the protagonists. At the same time, the background story illustrates a problem in the western states of the US that has no easy solution.

The first part of this newscast provides some background information about wild horses in the United States. The population keeps growing, but is that a good thing or a bad thing? It depends on your point of view.

One thing President Biden hopes to accomplish during his term in office is to pardon federal, non-violent offenders who have been convicted of possessing marijuana. Since the time many of these offenders were convicted and served their sentences, laws have changed, decriminalizing possession of marijuana in many states. This pardon hopes to right a wrong, although most offenders were convicted on a state level, where the President has no pardon power.

Schools in Britain are formal places of education. Pupils wear a uniform and the day is structured around the lesson plan with some welcome breaks in between! We join a school in Wales on the first day for many of its pupils.

Sigrid muses about how much she loves this time of year and time of day where she lives in Italy. If she had one complaint, it would be: too much green!

Sigrid describes her day using verbs in the simple past tense. Each verb will flash on the screen in the past tense with the infinitive in parentheses, just in case you need a little help. There is even a vegetarian pasta recipe included!

Most Americans don't realize how Columbus Day came to be a national holiday, but it actually doesn't have that much to do with Christopher Columbus, and we might even recognize a connection to present-day events. To recall something Mark Twain once supposedly said, "History doesn't repeat itself, but it often rhymes."

Columbus Day has always been a controversial holiday in the United States. In this video, Sigrid goes back in time to get some historical background, which sheds a new light on its significance.

In addition to Columbus Day, two new October commemorative holidays were signed into law by President Joe Biden.

Elderly couple Harold and Gertrude reminisce about their first date together. Although their memories are a little hazy, they can agree that it was a very special day!

Tommy is worried that nobody came to his baseball game, but it turns out that someone in his family did go. Find out who it was, and learn how to talk about past activities in the past tense!

In this video, you'll hear people talk about the past and the present. A man recites his poem, and then we go to a commercial break, where the fictional company Presto seems to have cornered almost every market with its wonder products!

Here are some examples of sentences using both the active and passive voices. Different tenses are used, too!