2006年VOA标准英语-Progress Reported on AIDS, Bird Flu, Malaria, C

By Melinda Smith and Paul Sisco
Washington, DC
22 December 2006
 
watch 2006 Science and Medicine

Within the next quarter century, AIDS is projected to be among the top three causes of death around the world.  That dire¹ prediction comes from researchers at the World Health Organization.  More dire predictions come from climatologists, who say there's new evidence of the impact of rising global temperatures.  VOA's Melinda Smith and Paul Sisco look at the top medical and science developments of 2006.  Melinda Smith narrates².

 
Child, points to his mother's grave. His mother died of AIDS
In late 2006, an epidemiologist said, “It will be increasingly hard to sustain treatment programs unless we can turn off the tap of new HIV infections.”  Twenty-five million people have died of AIDS.

Another 39-million are still living with HIV or AIDS.  Health officials continued to preach the practice of safe sex ...such as the use of condoms.  Clinical trials in which circumcision was performed on a group of adult heterosexual men showed great promise in reducing the risk of AIDS.

In 2006 the World Health Organization reversed itself and approved the use of DDT to spray indoors for the mosquito parasite³ that causes malaria⁴.   DDT has been banned for agricultural use for 30 years because of possible links to cancer.  However world health officials believe this version of the insecticide is not harmful to humans.

There was growing concern in 2006 about the spread of avian flu to humans, and in particular, fears the H5N1 virus could stimulate⁵ a human-to-human influenza⁶ pandemic. Scientists are working to develop a vaccine⁷.

Towards year's end United Nations health officials called for the wide distribution of a new affordable⁸ vaccine against the human pailloma virus. HPV causes 70 per cent of cervical cancers.  Cervical cancer is the second most common type of cancer among women.

 
Obesity became a global issue.  Blame was placed on a sedentary lifestyle and foods high in fat and sugar. On the other hand, not eating enough appeared to be the latest trend among fashion models.  Whoever said you can never be too thin had it wrong, in the minds of health officials in Spain.  They called for the world's first ban on overly-skinny models from the fashion runway.

On the medical research front, stem cells were in the news this year.  President Bush vetoed federal funds for research in the United States.  In South Korea, some highly-touted successes were proven false.  Nevertheless, research continues worldwide, and stem cell therapies are showing promise in battling a number of neurological diseases.

 
Global Warming map
In 2006, dramatic signs of global warming earned international attention.  Findings that both the north and south poles are melting surprised researchers.  A long-term study revealed that Greenland had lost 100 billion metric tons of ice between 2003 and 2005.

Some scientists say a hotter planet could be to blame for such natural disasters as the year's wildfires in the western United States, and growing drought conditions in Africa, and  typhoons caused mudslides in China and the Philippines which claimed thousands of lives.

 
Wind Power, farm
Record high oil prices helped make renewable sources -- such as wind and solar power -- the fastest growing energy sector⁹ in the United States. Meanwhile. Chevron¹⁰ announced the discovery of up to 15 billion barrels of oil more than two kilometers beneath the Gulf¹¹ of Mexico.

Discovery of another kind from the distant past. In February, a 3,000-year-old tomb was found in Egypt's Valley of the Kings. In September, scientists also announced they had found the skeleton of a 3-million-year-old early human ancestor.

Back to the future... NASA returned to space in 2006 with three crucial shuttle missions to the expanding International Space Station. Planetary probes, scrutinizing¹² Mars, found signs of recently flowing water.  Another probe gave us incredible images of Saturn¹³ and its rings. 

In August, a conference of astronomers¹⁴ stripped Pluto¹⁵ of its status as a planet, but NASA is still sending a probe to Pluto.  It arrives in 2015.

Finally, the US space agency also began a countdown of another sort, revealing its design for the next generation space shuttle craft and announcing plans for a multinational¹⁶, permanently-manned base on the moon by 2020.

1 dire   

adj.可怕的，悲惨的，阴惨的，极端的

参考例句：

• There were dire warnings about the dangers of watching too much TV.曾经有人就看电视太多的危害性提出严重警告。
• We were indeed in dire straits.But we pulled through.那时我们的困难真是大极了，但是我们渡过了困难。

2 narrates   

v.故事( narrate的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• It narrates the unconstitutional acts of James II. 它历数了詹姆斯二世的违法行为。 来自辞典例句
• Chapter three narrates the economy activity which Jew return the Occident. 第三章讲述了犹太人重返西欧后的经济活动。 来自互联网

3 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

4 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。

5 stimulate   

vt.刺激，使兴奋；激励，使…振奋

参考例句：

• Your encouragement will stimulate me to further efforts.你的鼓励会激发我进一步努力。
• Success will stimulate the people for fresh efforts.成功能鼓舞人们去作新的努力。

6 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

9 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

10 chevron   

n.V形臂章；V形图案

参考例句：

• He wore shoulderstrap rank slides with sergeant's chevrons.他佩戴标示级别的肩章，上面有中士的V形标志。
• The chevron or arrow road sign indicates a sharp bend to the left or right.V形或箭头路标表示有向左或向右的急转弯。

11 gulf   

n.海湾；深渊，鸿沟；分歧，隔阂

参考例句：

• The gulf between the two leaders cannot be bridged.两位领导人之间的鸿沟难以跨越。
• There is a gulf between the two cities.这两座城市间有个海湾。

12 scrutinizing   

v.仔细检查，详审( scrutinize的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• His grandfather's stern eyes were scrutinizing him, and Chueh-hui felt his face reddening. 祖父的严厉的眼光射在他的脸上。 来自汉英文学 - 家（1-26） - 家（1-26）
• The machine hushed, extraction and injection nozzles poised, scrutinizing its targets. 机器“嘘”地一声静了下来，输入输出管道各就各位，检查着它的目标。 来自互联网

13 Saturn   

n.农神，土星

参考例句：

• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings.天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。
• These comparisons suggested that Saturn is made of lighter materials.这些比较告诉我们，土星由较轻的物质构成。

14 astronomers   

n.天文学者，天文学家( astronomer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Astronomers can accurately foretell the date,time,and length of future eclipses. 天文学家能精确地预告未来日食月食的日期、时刻和时长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Astronomers used to ask why only Saturn has rings. 天文学家们过去一直感到奇怪，为什么只有土星有光环。 来自《简明英汉词典》

15 Pluto   

n.冥王星

参考例句：

• Pluto is the furthest planet from the sun.冥王星是离太阳最远的行星。
• Pluto has an elliptic orbit.冥王星的轨道是椭圆形的。

16 multinational   

adj.多国的，多种国籍的；n.多国籍公司，跨国公司

参考例句：

• The firm was taken over by a multinational consulting firm.这家公司被一个跨国咨询公司收购。
• He analyzed the relationship between multinational corporations and under-developed countries.他分析了跨国公司和不发达国家之间的关系。