VOA慢速英语2003年-发展与科学 World Sight Day

By Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: October 20, 2003

This is Faith Lapidus with the VOA Special English Development Report.
An estimated one-hundred-thirty-five million people have low vision. Forty to forty-five million others cannot see at all. Health experts warn that the number of blind people will increase sharply as the world population grows, and grows older. They say the number of blind people could almost double by two-thousand-twenty.
Yet the World Health Organization says that in eight out of ten cases, blindness can be cured or avoided.
October ninth was World Sight Day. A campaign called Vision Twenty-twenty released materials to help governments and health workers develop national plans to prevent blindness.
Vision Twenty-twenty is a joint² effort of the W-H-O and the International Agency for the Prevention of Blindness. The goal is to end preventable blindness by two-thousand-twenty. The campaign targets four main causes.
1)Cataracts⁴ cause the lens of the eye to become cloudy. In most of Africa and Asia, cataracts cause at least half the cases of blindness that can be cured. A simple operation can remove cataracts.
2)Trachoma is an 3)infectious disease spread person-to-person and by insects. Trachoma causes about fifteen percent of all cases of blindness. Most of the cases are in Africa. The disease can be treated with 4)antibiotic⁵ medicines and an operation to correct the damage.
The disease known as river blindness is also found mostly in Africa. Flies spread the infection. A yearly treatment of the drug Mectizan can control the disease.
Finally, a lack of vitamin A as a result of poor 5)nutrition is the leading cause of preventable blindness in children.
Vision Twenty-twenty says that every five seconds another person in the world goes blind. Most blind people live in developing nations. India has at least nine million.
Officials estimate that the world economy loses about twenty-eight-thousand-million dollars each year from 6)curable blindness.
A resolution passed by the World Health Assembly in May urges all governments to develop national plans to prevent blindness. You can learn more about Vision Twenty-twenty on the Internet at v-twenty-twenty dot o-r-g.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss. I'm Faith Lapidus.

注释：
1) cataract³ [ 5kAtErAkt ] n.白内障
2) trachoma [ trE5kEumE ] n.[医]沙眼, 颗粒性结膜炎
3) infectious disease n.传染病
4) antibiotic [ 7Antibai5Ctik ] adj.抗生的
5) nutrition [ nju:5triFEn ] n.营养
6) curable [5kjJErEb(E)l] adj.可医治的, 医得好的
 

1 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。

2 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

3 cataract   

n.大瀑布，奔流，洪水，白内障

参考例句：

• He is an elderly gentleman who had had a cataract operation.他是一位曾经动过白内障手术的老人。
• The way is blocked by the tall cataract.高悬的大瀑布挡住了去路。

4 cataracts   

n.大瀑布( cataract的名词复数 )；白内障

参考例句：

• The rotor cataracts water over the top of the machines. 回转轮将水从机器顶上注入。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》
• Cataracts of rain flooded the streets. 倾盆大雨弄得街道淹水。 来自辞典例句

5 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。