CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Welcome to THIS IS AMERICA in VOA Special English. I'm Christopher Cruise.

JUNE SIMMS: And I'm June Simms. This week, we tell you about pawn shops and the people who own them - pawnbrokers. We also tell about former boxing champion Mike Tyson and his recent one-man show.

(MUSIC)

CHRISTOPHER CRUISE: Pawn shops are businesses where people bring their possessions to sell or to get a short-term loan. The United States has about ten thousand of them.