VOA慢速英语2014 US Nurse with Ebola Is 'Doing Well'

 

US Nurse with Ebola Is 'Doing Well'

The Texas nurse who became the first person sickened with the Ebola virus on U.S. soil says she is "doing well."

Texas Health Presbyterian Hospital in Dallas released a statement Tuesday from Nina Pham.  She said she wants "to thank everyone for their kind wishes and prayers."

The hospital is the same where Ms. Pham was infected while caring for a Liberian man. He is first person to die of Ebola in the United States.

The hospital's chief said the doctors and nurses involved with Ms. Pham's treatment "remain hopeful." 

Ms. Pham received a blood transfusion¹ from Kent Brantly, the American doctor who recovered from Ebola in the U.S. after getting the disease in Liberia.

Meanwhile, a German hospital says a United Nations medical worker who became sick with Ebola virus while in Liberia has died. The UN Mission in Liberia reported last week that tests showed the 56-year-old worker was infected on October 6th. UN officials said none of the 41 people who may have been in contact with the person had shown any signs of the disease.

The World Health Organization says the number of Ebola cases in West Africa is significantly underreported, and is likely two times greater than thought.

WHO Assistant Director-General Bruce Aylward says actual infections could be 1.5 times higher than reported in Guinea, two times higher in Sierra Leone, and 2.5 times higher in Liberia.

Mr. Aylward, spoke² to reporters Tuesday in Geneva.  He said the official death toll³ from the Ebola virus has risen to 4,447. Nearly all of these are in West Africa.  The number of reported cases is now more than 8,900.

Hong Kong Police Remove Barriers Around Protesters

Hong Kong police used chainsaws and other power tools on Tuesday to remove barriers from a main street in the city’s financial area. Protesters have been living there for over two weeks. They are demanding political reforms.

Hundreds of police tore down pro-democracy signs and crushed shelters along the Queensway in the Admiralty area of central Hong Kong.

Crowds of protesters, some crying, exchanged words with police but did not resist. Police gave protesters permission to remain, but said they must not block traffic or the transport lines that run through the middle of the street.

Hours earlier, police removed metal barricades⁴ at another protest site in the nearby Causeway Bay shopping area. Police said the move was designed to free up traffic.

North Korean Leader Reappears in Public

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un has made his first public appearance in more than 40 days. State media photographs showed Mr. Kim carrying a cane⁵.

The official Korean Central News Agency said Tuesday he visited a housing area and a science center, where he gave "field guidance." The news agency and the country's main newspaper published several pictures of Mr. Kim smiling and leaning on a black cane.

The reports did not say when the photos were taken. They also did not explain why he was carrying the cane.

The disappearance⁶ of Mr. Kim led observers to wonder whether he was suffering a serious health or political problem.

1 transfusion   

n.输血，输液

参考例句：

• She soon came to her senses after a blood transfusion.输血后不久她就苏醒了。
• The doctor kept him alive by a blood transfusion.医生靠输血使他仍然活着。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

4 barricades   

路障，障碍物( barricade的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The police stormed the barricades the demonstrators had put up. 警察冲破了示威者筑起的街垒。
• Others died young, in prison or on the barricades. 另一些人年轻时就死在监牢里或街垒旁。

5 cane   

n.手杖，细长的茎，藤条；v.以杖击，以藤编制的

参考例句：

• This sugar cane is quite a sweet and juicy.这甘蔗既甜又多汁。
• English schoolmasters used to cane the boys as a punishment.英国小学老师过去常用教鞭打男学生作为惩罚。

6 disappearance   

n.消失，消散，失踪

参考例句：

• He was hard put to it to explain her disappearance.他难以说明她为什么不见了。
• Her disappearance gave rise to the wildest rumours.她失踪一事引起了各种流言蜚语。