ESL Podcast 431 – Health in Developing Countries

Silvia: What are you watching?

Hermann: I’m watching a show about the health problems in developing countries.

Silvia: Don’t we have enough healthcare problems here, in this country?

Hermann: We do, but there are countries that have a lot more acute problems than we do.

Silvia: Oh, those kids are so cute.

Hermann: Yeah, but a lot of them are going to die of malnutrition¹ and infectious diseases, things that are preventable.

Silvia: I thought the biggest problem was the spread of AIDS and HIV.

Hermann: Those are huge problems, no question about it, but a lot of people die of other preventable diseases, too, such as malaria², tuberculosis³, and measles⁴. Believe it or not, we’ve had immunizations for measles for over 40 years!

Silvia: That’s terrible. I can see why you’re studying medicine. I wish I could be a doctor.

Hermann: You could, but first, you’ll need to get over your fear of blood.


Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

2 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

3 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

4 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。