环球英语 — 34： Millennium Development Goals

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Hello, I’m Rachel Hobson.
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And I’m Marina Santee. Welcome to Spotlight¹. This programme uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
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Fatima lives in a small village in Angola. She had to walk four hours every day to collect water. And the water was not even clean. Some children in the village became sick after drinking it.
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Kaima is twelve years old. She lives in the desert area of Rajasthan, in India. She is the first female² in her family to learn how to read and write. Kaima wants to be a pilot.
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Chorn is an intelligent two year old boy. But he has been very sick for much of his short life. Chorn and his parents live in Cambodia. His parents have to borrow money to pay for private doctors. But no-one seems able to help their son.
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Water supply, education, healthcare - it is a sad fact that millions of people around the world do not enjoy these basic services. But in the year 2000, the UN set ‘the Millennium³ Goals’. These goals seek to improve the lives of people in developing countries. And world leaders promised to make every effort to achieve these goals. But how many people’s lives have truly changed? Have the Millennium goals made any real difference? And who can actually remember what they are? Here is Spotlight’s guide to the Millennium Goals:
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Goal one:
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To destroy extreme poverty and hunger.
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Goal two:
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To provide a basic level of education for children around the world.
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Goal three:
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To make sure that women have the same chances as men in every area of life.
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Goal four:
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To reduce the rate of children dying⁴.
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Goal five:
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To improve the health of mothers before, during and after giving birth.
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Goal six:
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To fight against HIV/Aids, malaria⁵ and other sicknesses.
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Goal seven:
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To care for the environment.
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Goal eight:
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To encourage countries to work together for global economic development.
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June 2007 marked the half-way point of the project to complete the Millennium Goals. So, has the international community kept its promises? Have governments invested⁶ in projects that will deal with problems of health, education and the environment? At that half-way point, the UN published a report. It was about the progress different countries were making so far with the Millennium Goals. Here are the main points of the UN report:
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Goal One: to destroy poverty and hunger.
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The poor are getting a little less poor in most areas. But progress is slow. Governments need to act quicker to meet the goal.
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Goal two: education for children.
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Generally, more children are attending school. But in parts of Africa, the rate of progress is slower. And girls are still less likely to attend school than boys.
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Goal three: equal rights for women.
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Employment⁷ for women is improving. But women are still less well represented in politics than men are.
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Goal four: to reduce the rate of children dying.
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Child survival⁸ rates have not improved very much. But governments are providing more basic health services.
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Goal five: to improve the health of mothers.
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Half a million [500,000] women continue to die each year during pregnancy⁹ or childbirth. Mothers need expert care - and in many places this help is still not there for them.
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Goal six: to fight against HIV/Aids, malaria and other sicknesses.
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There are now more deaths from HIV/AIDS in parts of Africa. Many HIV/AIDS patients still do not receive treatment. And it seems increasingly¹⁰ difficult to control the spread of the disease¹¹.
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Goal seven: to care for the environment.
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People are trying to use different kinds of energy supplies. But worldwide pollution is increasing. Also, more people are moving to cities to find work. This leads to over-crowding and fewer resources for more people.
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Goal eight: to encourage countries to work together for global economic development.
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Richer countries are giving less aid to developing countries. And there are fewer jobs for young people.
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The general opinion seems to be that there has been some progress towards reaching the goals. But the richer nations need to be true to their promises. This is the only way that real change will happen. And pressure groups around the world agree. Many of them have united to voice their concern. They believe that change can happen. And they have the job of helping¹² governments to remember their promises.
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One of these pressure groups is called, “Micah Challenge”. The group’s name comes from a Jewish¹³ prophet¹⁴ in the Christian¹⁵ Bible¹⁶. Micah declared how God hates it when people are unfair. He said:
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“God has told us what is right. We must act justly and love mercy and follow God with the right heart and mind.”
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“Micah Challenge” believes that this message is as true now as it was in bible times. And the group believes that encouraging governments is necessary to achieve the Millennium Development Goals. These goals will bring more justice to the world. That is why “Micah Challenge” joined together with many other pressure groups. They asked thousands of people to come to London for a public protest¹⁷. They wanted this demonstration¹⁸ to remind governments not to forget their promises.
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So, many people did gather. And not just in London. People organized similar protests¹⁹ in many different countries. Their message was that the world cannot wait - now is the time to act.
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The former secretary general of the United Nations, Kofi Annan, agrees. Before he left office, he said:
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“In the Millennium Declaration²⁰ of 2000, world leaders made some big promises. They said that they would make every effort to free men, women and children from the terrible conditions of extreme poverty. But there is a danger here. These leaders have to keep their promises. If they do not, then the biggest world fight against poverty will result in very little change. And people in developing countries will never trust them again. I hope that we will not look back in 2015 and say that we could have tried harder to achieve these goals.”
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

3 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

4 dying   

adj.垂死的，临终的

参考例句：

• He was put in charge of the group by the dying leader.他被临终的领导人任命为集团负责人。
• She was shown into a small room,where there was a dying man.她被领进了一间小屋子，那里有一个垂死的人。

5 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。

6 invested   

v.投资，花费( invest的过去式和过去分词 )；授予；（把资金）投入；投入（时间、精力等）

参考例句：

• The money will be invested in managed funds. 这笔钱将投资于管理基金。
• He invested his lawyer with complete power to act for him. 他让律师全权代办。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 employment   

n.雇用；使用；工作，职业

参考例句：

• A large office requires the employment of many people.一个大办事处需要雇用好多人员。
• The state of employment in this city is improving.这个城市就业状况正在改善。

8 survival   

n.留住生命，生存，残存，幸存者

参考例句：

• The doctor told my wife I had a fifty-fifty chance of survival.医生告诉我的妻子，说我活下去的可能性只有50%。
• The old man was a survival of a past age.这位老人是上一代的遗老。

9 pregnancy   

n.怀孕，怀孕期

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
• Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。

10 increasingly   

adv.逐渐地，日益地，逐渐增加地

参考例句：

• Rivers are being increasingly made use of by man. 河流正在日益为人类所利用。
• I find it increasingly difficult to live within my income.我发现靠收入过日子越来越难了。

11 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

12 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

13 Jewish   

adj.犹太人的，犹太民族的

参考例句：

• The coin bears a Jewish symbol.硬币上有犹太标记。
• They were two Jewish kids;I was friendly with both of them.他们是两个犹太小孩；我同他们都很要好。

14 prophet   

n.预言家，先知，提倡者

参考例句：

• A prophet made a prophecy that the kingdom would fall.一位预言家预言那个王国将要灭亡。
• The pity is that you are not a prophet.可惜你不能未卜先知。

15 Christian   

adj.基督教徒的；n.基督教徒

参考例句：

• They always addressed each other by their Christian name.他们总是以教名互相称呼。
• His mother is a sincere Christian.他母亲是个虔诚的基督教徒。

16 bible   

n.《圣经》；得到权威支持的典籍

参考例句：

• According to the Bible we are all the seed of Adam.根据《圣经》所说的，我们都是亚当的后裔。
• This dictionary should be your Bible when studying English.学习英语时，这本字典应是你的主要参考书。

17 protest   

v.反对，抗议；宣称；n.抗议；宣称

参考例句：

• I can't pass the matter by without a protest.我不能对此事视而不见，我要提出抗议。
• We translated his silence as a protest.我们把他的沉默解释为抗议。

18 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

19 protests   

n.[体]抗议；抗议，反对( protest的名词复数 )v.声明( protest的第三人称单数 )；坚决地表示；申辩

参考例句：

• The protests have forced the government to back-pedal on the new tax. 抗议活动已迫使政府撤销新的税目。
• Plans to build a new mall were deep-sixed after protests from local residents. 修建新室内购物中心的计划由于当地居民反对而搁浅。

20 declaration   

n.宣布，宣告，宣言，声明（书），申报

参考例句：

• We read the declaration posted on the bulletin board.我们读了贴在布告板上的声明。
• At the recent convention a declaration was adopted.在最近举行的大会上通过了一项宣言。