英语听力精选进阶版 7202

Background: 世界卫生组织成员国在日内瓦开会并投票决定将销毁致命性天花病毒标本的决定再延迟三年。

Smallpox¹ was eradicated³ in 1979 - but two stocks of live smallpox virus remain.

For years the debate over what to do with them has raged - in Geneva developing countries argued it was high time to destroy all known samples of a virus which in the past claimed millions of lives.

But the United States and Russia, the two countries which hold the virus samples - wanted to keep them for at least another five years - saying that if smallpox ever re-emerged - either by accident or even deliberately⁴ - the samples could be needed to create a vaccine⁵.

That argument seemed finally, after days of division, to sway member states, and they approved a compromise - postponing⁶ a decision on destroying the virus samples for another three years.

And so the fate of one of the world's deadliest viruses is still not decided⁷ - and the debate over whether the world is safer with it, or without it, will continue.

Glossary⁸ 词汇表

to eradicate² 消除，根除 

to rage 激愤 

high time 到时候了 

a sample 标本 

to re-emerge 重新出现 

deliberately 故意地 

to sway 使动摇 

a compromise 妥协 

to postpone⁹ 推迟 

the fate of 命运

Questions and Answers

1. Why did Russia and the US want to keep the virus alive? 

They argued that it was in case the diesase came back and samples were needed to produce a vaccine.

2. How long did they want to keep the samples for? 

For five years.

3. True or false? There is fear that someone could be willing to bring back the disease. 

True. It could be spread deliberately in the future, maybe as a biological weapon.

4. True or false? The WHO has decided that the virus will be destroyed in three years. 

False. The WHO has decided that in three years time there will be another vote to decide if the virus will be destroyed.

1 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

2 eradicate   

v.根除，消灭，杜绝

参考例句：

• These insects are very difficult to eradicate.这些昆虫很难根除。
• They are already battling to eradicate illnesses such as malaria and tetanus.他们已经在努力消灭疟疾、破伤风等疾病。

3 eradicated   

画着根的

参考例句：

• Polio has been virtually eradicated in Brazil. 在巴西脊髓灰质炎实际上已经根除。
• The disease has been eradicated from the world. 这种疾病已在全世界得到根除。

4 deliberately   

adv.审慎地；蓄意地；故意地

参考例句：

• The girl gave the show away deliberately.女孩故意泄露秘密。
• They deliberately shifted off the argument.他们故意回避这个论点。

5 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。

6 postponing   

v.延期，推迟( postpone的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He tried to gain time by postponing his decision. 他想以迟迟不作决定的手段来争取时间。 来自辞典例句
• I don't hold with the idea of postponing further discussion of the matter. 我不赞成推迟进一步讨论这件事的想法。 来自辞典例句

7 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

8 glossary   

n.注释词表；术语汇编

参考例句：

• The text is supplemented by an adequate glossary.正文附有一个详细的词汇表。
• For convenience,we have also provided a glossary in an appendix.为了方便，我们在附录中也提供了术语表。

9 postpone   

v.延期，推迟

参考例句：

• I shall postpone making a decision till I learn full particulars.在未获悉详情之前我得从缓作出决定。
• She decided to postpone the converastion for that evening.她决定当天晚上把谈话搁一搁。