VOA慢速英语20060405a

HEALTH REPORT - A New Life Treating AIDS in Africa, Then Tragedy StrikesBy Cynthia Kirk

Broadcast: Wednesday, April 05, 2006

I'm Steve Ember with the VOA Special English Health Report.

Botswana has a small population, less than two million, but a big problem with AIDS. Forty percent of its people age thirty to thirty-four are infected with H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS. The most recent report also shows that six percent of children are infected.

Yet, like other countries in southern Africa, Botswana does not have enough people trained to care for H.I.V. patients. One way it gets help is through a program with the University of Pennsylvania.

The American school sends doctors to provide training and to treat patients. Medical students also go. The Penn Medicine Program in Botswana is based at the Princess Marina Hospital in Gaborone.

Recently an American doctor named Richard Root went to help lead the training for two months. Doctor Root retired¹ a few years ago from the University of Washington in Seattle with the honor of professor emeritus².


Dr. Richard K. Root

In the early nineteen seventies he had helped form the infectious disease division in the Department of Medicine at Penn. His specialty³ was how the body defends itself against bacterial⁴ infections.

Doctor Root also became known internationally for his teaching skills. He taught other doctors and helped medical schools develop teaching programs. He was known too for his ease with patients.

Doctor Root was married forty-one years to Marilyn Parletta Root. They had grandchildren. He took care of her after she developed a progressive neuromuscular disorder⁵. After she died in two thousand one, he suffered depression.

Marilyn Root was a mental health counselor⁶. She was known for her work with art to help women who had been mistreated as children.

In two thousand four Doctor Root remarried. Friends and family saw a new sense of purpose in his life. He had worked for a short time in the nineteen seventies as a visiting doctor in Iran. Now he was excited about the chance to help AIDS patients in Africa.

On March nineteenth he was in a canoe on the Limpopo River in Botswana, on a guided trip to see wildlife. All of a sudden, reports say, a crocodile pulled him into the river. His remains⁷ were found later and sent home to Seattle last week.

His wife of eighteen months, Rita O'Boyle, saw the attack from another boat. They had been in Botswana just short of a month.

Doctor Richard Root was sixty-eight years old.

This VOA Special English Health Report was written by Cynthia Kirk. Read and listen to our reports at www.unsv.com. I'm Steve Ember.

1 retired   

adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的

参考例句：

• The old man retired to the country for rest.这位老人下乡休息去了。
• Many retired people take up gardening as a hobby.许多退休的人都以从事园艺为嗜好。

2 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

3 specialty   

n.(speciality)特性，特质；专业，专长

参考例句：

• Shell carvings are a specialty of the town.贝雕是该城的特产。
• His specialty is English literature.他的专业是英国文学。

4 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

5 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

6 counselor   

n.顾问，法律顾问

参考例句：

• The counselor gave us some disinterested advice.顾问给了我们一些无私的忠告。
• Chinese commercial counselor's office in foreign countries.中国驻国外商务参赞处。

7 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。