英语博客：ESL Podcast 725 – Childhood Illnesses and Diseases

　　Rebecca: You look exhausted¹! Another tough day at the daycare center?
Puneet: Yeah, it was. This is a record year for the kids getting sick. The chicken pox is going around. Last year, it was the measles². The year before that, it was the mumps³. This year, it’s the chicken pox.
Rebecca: You sent the kids home, right?
Puneet: Yeah, but today, a couple of the kids looked like they have pink eye, and I had to call their parents to let them know.
Rebecca: What happened to simple nosebleeds and earaches⁴?
Puneet: Oh, we have kids with those, too, but it’s the contagious⁵ diseases that really take its toll⁶. I’m not sure, but I think one of the little kids has strep throat, and a couple of the really little kids have croup. I wish there were a way to immunize all of them from every illness and disease out there.
Rebecca: Are you sure you’re working in a daycare center?
Puneet: Yeah, why?
Rebecca: Because it just sounds like you’re working at the Center for Disease Control. Tomorrow, I suggest wearing a gas mask to work.
Script by Dr. Lucy Tse

1 exhausted   

adj.极其疲惫的，精疲力尽的

参考例句：

• It was a long haul home and we arrived exhausted.搬运回家的这段路程特别长，到家时我们已筋疲力尽。
• Jenny was exhausted by the hustle of city life.珍妮被城市生活的忙乱弄得筋疲力尽。

2 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

3 mumps   

n.腮腺炎

参考例句：

• Sarah got mumps from her brother.萨拉的弟弟患腮腺炎，传染给她了。
• I was told not go near Charles. He is sickening for mumps.别人告诉我不要走近查尔斯， 他染上了流行性腮腺炎。

4 earaches   

n.耳朵痛( earache的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• He has had some earaches lately. 他近来耳朵有点痛。 来自互联网

5 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

6 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。