VOA慢速英语20061120a

DEVELOPMENT REPORT - Health of Africans and Women Top Concerns of Next WHO ChiefBy Jill Moss¹

Broadcast: Monday, November 20, 2006


China's Margaret Chan smiles after being nominated new World Health Organization WHO Director General

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The next chief of the World Health Organization wants the performance of the W.H.O. to be judged by two measures. One is improvements in the health of the people of Africa. The other is improvements in the health of women.

Margaret Chan says the W.H.O. must help all people, but especially those in greatest need. Doctor Chan will begin a five-year term as director-general in January. She will replace Lee Jong-wook of South Korea who died in May.

She will be the first Chinese head of a major United Nations agency. China nominated her, but she says she considers her nationality secondary to the interests of the W.H.O.

The Chinese government has been criticized for slow reporting of public health emergencies. W.H.O. officials say lack of cooperation has hurt the agency's ability to follow the spread of disease. Doctor Chan says she hopes her new job will give her more influence with government officials.

Margaret Chan is a bird flu expert. The fifty-nine-year-old doctor completed her medical training at the University of Western Ontario in Canada. She also studied public health at the National University of Singapore.

She joined the Hong Kong Department of Health in nineteen seventy-eight. She became its director in nineteen ninety-four. Three years later she had to deal with an outbreak of the h-five-n-one virus that included the first known cases in humans.

Doctor Chan ordered the killing² of all poultry³ birds in the city to control the spread of the virus. She won international praise. She was also praised for her handling of the outbreak of severe acute respiratory syndrome⁴, SARS, in two thousand three.

She joined the World Health Organization later that year. Most recently she served as assistant director-general for communicable diseases. She was also the representative of the director-general for pandemic influenza⁵.

Earlier this month, a series of votes by a nominating committee narrowed the list of candidates for director-general. On the final ballot⁶, Margaret Chan defeated Mexican Health Minister Julio Frenk twenty-four to ten.

Then the World Health Assembly approved her nomination⁷ at a special meeting in Geneva, Switzerland. The assembly represents all one hundred ninety-three member nations in the W.H.O.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss. For MP3 files and transcripts⁸, go to www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

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 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

3 poultry   

n.家禽，禽肉

参考例句：

• There is not much poultry in the shops. 商店里禽肉不太多。
• What do you feed the poultry on? 你们用什么饲料喂养家禽?

4 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

5 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。

6 ballot   

n.（不记名）投票，投票总数，投票权；vi.投票

参考例句：

• The members have demanded a ballot.会员们要求投票表决。
• The union said they will ballot members on whether to strike.工会称他们将要求会员投票表决是否罢工。

7 nomination   

n.提名，任命，提名权

参考例句：

• John is favourite to get the nomination for club president.约翰最有希望被提名为俱乐部主席。
• Few people pronounced for his nomination.很少人表示赞成他的提名。

8 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句