VOA慢速英语2017 越来越多美国人死于毒品

More Americans Died From Drugs Than Ever Before

From VOA Learning English, this is the Health & Lifestyle Report.

这里是美国之音慢速英语健康和生活报道。

In 2016, more than 60,000 people died in the United States because of drugs. That is the highest number of drug deaths and the fastest yearly increase in recorded history. Early data suggests that deaths from opioids and other drugs will continue to rise in 2017.

2016年，美国有6万多人因为毒品死亡。这是有记录以来最高的毒品死亡人数以及最快的年度增幅。初步数据显示，2017年阿片类药物等毒品造成的死亡人数将会继续上升。

Drug overdose is now the leading cause of death for Americans under the age of 50. U.S. Deputy Attorney General Rod Rosenstein made this statement in June 2017 at a news conference with Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) officials.

目前，吸毒过量是美国50岁以下人群死亡的主要原因。2017年6月,美国副总检察长罗德·罗森斯坦（Rod Rosenstein）同美国缉毒局官员出席一场新闻发布会时发表了上述声明。

Rosenstein called it a “horrifying¹ surge in drug overdoses." He added that drug abuse is wrecking² families and communities throughout the U.S.

罗森斯坦称其为“吸毒过量死亡人数可怕地急剧增长。”他补充说，滥用毒品正在破坏美国各地的家庭和社区。

More than two million Americans have some sort of physical dependence³ on opioids. Opioids are a type of painkiller⁴ that are legally prescribed to many people. Opioids are addictive⁶ if people take too much of them or take them for a long period of time.

美国两百多万人对阿片类药物存在某种身体依赖。阿片类药物是一种合法开给大多数人服用的止痛剂。如果人们服用阿片类药物过量或长时间服用就会上瘾。

New types of illegal killer⁵ drugs

新型的非法致命毒品

However, there is a new and even more dangerous part of the opioid crisis and it is happening much more often. This is the making and selling of extremely strong, illegal types of drugs that copy ones that already exist. One such drug is fentanyl.

然而，阿片类药物危机存在一种新型并且甚至更为危险的类型，并且发生得更为频繁。这就是仿现有毒品的极其强力的非法毒品的制造和销售，其中一种这样的毒品就是芬太尼。

Fentanyl is so strong that even the smallest amounts — as little as two or three grains — can kill. Police officers and other first responders who try to help drug overdose victims are often affected⁷ by the drug themselves.

芬太尼非常强力，甚至极少量，少到只要两三粒就能致命。试图帮助吸毒过量受害者的警务人员和其它现场急救员自身就经常受到这种药品的影响。

DEA does not yet have data on this part the problem. However, officials say there is a clear increase in cases where first responders have become ill while handling evidence or helping⁸ overdose drug victims.

美国缉毒局尚未有这部分问题的数据。然而，有关官员表示，现场急救员在处理证据或帮助吸毒过量受害者时致病的案例有明显增长。

Chuck Rosenberg is a high-level official at the DEA. He has warned emergency responders to take great care in drug-overdose cases. He advises them to wear protective gear such as masks and gloves.

查克·罗森伯格(Chuck Rosenberg)是美国缉毒局一名高级官员。他已经警告紧急救援人员在处理吸毒过量案例时要极度小心。他建议他们穿戴防护装备，例如面具和手套。

Even dogs trained to find illegal drugs are at risk. Their handlers have begun carrying antidotes¹⁰ for both the animals and themselves. However, these new synthetic¹¹ drugs are so powerful that many doses of antidotes are sometimes needed to save the rescuers.

即使是经过训练用于搜寻非法毒品的警犬也有风险。警犬训练人员已经开始为警犬和自己都携带解毒剂。然而，这些新合成毒品效力如此之大，有时候需要很多剂量的解毒剂来解救救援人员。

Rosenberg summed up DEA advice to emergency teams at an overdose scene: "If you don't know what it is, assume there's something in it that will kill you.''

罗森伯格概括了美国缉毒局对应急小组在吸毒过量现场的建议：“如果你不知道它是什么，假定它里面有些东西会杀死你。”

Increasing danger in Europe

欧洲的风险加剧

The extremely fast rise in opioid problems is also happening in Europe. The European Monitoring Center for Drugs and Drug Addiction¹² reported in June 2017 that dangerous synthetic drugs similar to heroin¹³ and morphine are a growing health threat in the European Union.

阿片类药品问题的急剧上升也发生在欧洲。欧洲毒品和毒品成瘾监测中心于2017年6月报告称，与海洛因以及吗啡类似的危险合成毒品在欧洲是一种日益增长的健康威胁。

Experts at the center say on its website that more than 8,000 people died from overdose in the EU in 2015. This is the third year in a row that the number of overdoses has increased in the EU. And the center warns that drug-related deaths in Europe could be much higher. For this, it blames delayed reporting and “under-reporting in some countries.”

该中心的专家在其网站上表示，2015年欧盟国家有8千多人死于吸毒过量。这是欧盟国家连续第三年吸毒过量人数出现增长。该中心警告说，欧洲与毒品相关人死亡可能会更高。对于这点，它将其归咎于报告迟缓以及“在某些国家报告不足。”

And that’s the Health & Lifestyle report. I’m Anna Matteo.

Words in This Story

data – n. acts or information used usually to calculate, analyze¹⁴, or plan something

opioid – medical n. possessing some properties characteristic of opiate narcotics¹⁵ but not derived¹⁶ from opium¹⁷

horrifying – adj. something that causes someone to feel horror

surge – n. a sudden, large increase

antidote⁹ – n. a remedy to counteract¹⁸ the effects of poison

sum up – phrasal verb to present a summary : to assess and then describe briefly¹⁹

synthetic – adj. made by combining different substances : not natural

1 horrifying   

a.令人震惊的，使人毛骨悚然的

参考例句：

• He went to great pains to show how horrifying the war was. 他极力指出战争是多么的恐怖。
• The possibility of war is too horrifying to contemplate. 战争的可能性太可怕了，真不堪细想。

2 wrecking   

破坏

参考例句：

• He teed off on his son for wrecking the car. 他严厉训斥他儿子毁坏了汽车。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Instead of wrecking the valley, the waters are put to use making electricity. 现在河水不但不在流域内肆疟，反而被人们用来生产电力。 来自辞典例句

3 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

4 painkiller   

n.止痛药

参考例句：

• I shall persuade him to take the painkiller.我将说服他把药吃下去。
• The painkiller only provides him a short respite from his pain.止痛药仅仅让他在疼痛中有短暂的疏解。

5 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

6 addictive   

adj.(吸毒等)使成瘾的，成为习惯的

参考例句：

• The problem with video game is that they're addictive.电子游戏机的问题在于它们会使人上瘾。
• Cigarettes are highly addictive.香烟很容易使人上瘾。

7 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

10 antidotes   

解药( antidote的名词复数 )； 解毒剂； 对抗手段； 除害物

参考例句：

• Treatment involves giving antidotes that Bind the lead in the tissues. 治疗办法有用解毒剂，它会与组织中的铅结合而把它驱逐出去。
• With Spleen Qi, heat antidotes, such as cough Runfei effectiveness. 具有补脾益气、清热解毒、润肺止咳等功效。

11 synthetic   

adj.合成的，人工的；综合的；n.人工制品

参考例句：

• We felt the salesman's synthetic friendliness.我们感觉到那位销售员的虚情假意。
• It's a synthetic diamond.这是人造钻石。

12 addiction   

n.上瘾入迷，嗜好

参考例句：

• He stole money from his parents to feed his addiction.他从父母那儿偷钱以满足自己的嗜好。
• Areas of drug dealing are hellholes of addiction,poverty and murder.贩卖毒品的地区往往是吸毒上瘾、贫困和发生谋杀的地方。

13 heroin   

n.海洛因

参考例句：

• Customs have made their biggest ever seizure of heroin.海关查获了有史以来最大的一批海洛因。
• Heroin has been smuggled out by sea.海洛因已从海上偷运出境。

14 analyze   

vt.分析，解析 (=analyse)

参考例句：

• We should analyze the cause and effect of this event.我们应该分析这场事变的因果。
• The teacher tried to analyze the cause of our failure.老师设法分析我们失败的原因。

15 narcotics   

n.麻醉药( narcotic的名词复数 )；毒品；毒

参考例句：

• The use of narcotics by teenagers is a problem in many countries. 青少年服用麻醉药在许多国家中都是一个问题。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Police shook down the club, looking for narcotics. 警方彻底搜查了这个俱乐部，寻找麻醉品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

16 derived   

vi.起源；由来；衍生；导出v.得到( derive的过去式和过去分词 )；（从…中）得到获得；源于；（从…中）提取

参考例句：

• Many English words are derived from Latin and Greek. 英语很多词源出于拉丁文和希腊文。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He derived his enthusiasm for literature from his father. 他对文学的爱好是受他父亲的影响。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 opium   

n.鸦片；adj.鸦片的

参考例句：

• That man gave her a dose of opium.那男人给了她一剂鸦片。
• Opium is classed under the head of narcotic.鸦片是归入麻醉剂一类的东西。

18 counteract   

vt.对…起反作用，对抗，抵消

参考例句：

• The doctor gave him some medicine to counteract the effect of the poison.医生给他些药解毒。
• Our work calls for mutual support.We shouldn't counteract each other's efforts.工作要互相支持，不要互相拆台。

19 briefly   

adv.简单地，简短地

参考例句：

• I want to touch briefly on another aspect of the problem.我想简单地谈一下这个问题的另一方面。
• He was kidnapped and briefly detained by a terrorist group.他被一个恐怖组织绑架并短暂拘禁。