VOA标准英语2009年-Children Acutely Malnourished in Central A

The U.N. Children's Fund says thousands of children in the Central African Republic are acutely malnourished. UNICEF is urgently appealing for $1.5 million to provide life-saving therapeutic¹ foods, drugs and other supplies to these vulnerable children during the next six months.

UNICEF is conducting a nutritional² survey in the Central African Republic. Preliminary assessments⁴ of three provinces in the Southwestern part of the country reveal 16 percent of children under five are acutely malnourished, and 6.6 percent are severely⁵ acutely malnourished.

UNICEF Nutrition Specialist Mediatrice Kiburente tells VOA these numbers are far above the emergency thresholds of two percent for severe acute malnutrition⁶ and 15 percent for global acute malnutrition. She says preliminary estimates find more than 16,700 children surveyed are at risk.

"When we speak about severely malnourished children ... they are at a very high risk of death. If nothing is done for those children, they are going to die. They are at the last, last, last level of malnutrition," Kiburente said.

The Central African Republic is one of the poorest countries, with one of the highest infant mortality rates. A recent U.N. study finds nearly 81 infants out of 1,000 die. This compared to 2.9 children out of 1,000 in Iceland.

Kiburente is on a nutrition assessment³ mission in Boali, a town about 80 kilometers from the capital Bangui from where she spoke⁷ to VOA by telephone.

She says conditions of life in Southwestern CAR have become more difficult recently and children are particularly vulnerable to lack of proper nourishment⁸. She says the health system has collapsed⁹ and hygiene¹⁰ practices are very poor.

"Since June, it is a new shock coming from the global economic crisis that affects, especially the mining regions. The regions that had revenue coming from mines or coming from mine activities," Kiburente said. "So the reduction of mine activities affects the revenue of the households, which affects the quality and quantity of food eaten by the families."

Kiburente says malnourishment in the conflict-ridden northern part of the country is high, but unlike the south the north has aid agencies in place to help care for the children.

She says UNICEF and other U.N. and private aid agencies are pooling resources to assist the vulnerable children in the more stable, but greatly impoverished¹¹ south.

1 therapeutic   

adj.治疗的，起治疗作用的；对身心健康有益的

参考例句：

• Therapeutic measures were selected to fit the patient.选择治疗措施以适应病人的需要。
• When I was sad,music had a therapeutic effect.我悲伤的时候，音乐有治疗效力。

2 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

3 assessment   

n.评价；评估；对财产的估价，被估定的金额

参考例句：

• This is a very perceptive assessment of the situation.这是一个对该情况的极富洞察力的评价。
• What is your assessment of the situation?你对时局的看法如何？

4 assessments   

n.评估( assessment的名词复数 )；评价；（应偿付金额的）估定；（为征税对财产所作的）估价

参考例句：

• He was shrewd in his personal assessments. 他总能对人作出精明的评价。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Surveys show about two-thirds use such assessments, while half employ personality tests. 调查表明，约有三分之二的公司采用了这种测评；而一半的公司则采用工作人员个人品质测试。 来自百科语句

5 severely   

adv.严格地；严厉地；非常恶劣地

参考例句：

• He was severely criticized and removed from his post.他受到了严厉的批评并且被撤了职。
• He is severely put down for his careless work.他因工作上的粗心大意而受到了严厉的批评。

6 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。

7 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。

8 nourishment   

n.食物，营养品；营养情况

参考例句：

• Lack of proper nourishment reduces their power to resist disease.营养不良降低了他们抵抗疾病的能力。
• He ventured that plants draw part of their nourishment from the air.他大胆提出植物从空气中吸收部分养分的观点。

9 collapsed   

adj.倒塌的

参考例句：

• Jack collapsed in agony on the floor. 杰克十分痛苦地瘫倒在地板上。
• The roof collapsed under the weight of snow. 房顶在雪的重压下突然坍塌下来。

10 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

11 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》