VOA慢速英语2009年-SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - A Serious Study Look

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English. I'm Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Today, we will tell about a plan to fight a leading killer² of children in developing countries. We will tell about a new way to recognize harmful minerals in rocks and soil. And we will tell about a major study of laughter.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

Diarrhea kills one million five hundred thousand children each year. That represents one in five child deaths worldwide. The only disease that kills more children under age five is pneumonia³.

Experts say diarrhea causes more child deaths than the diseases AIDS, malaria⁴ and measles⁵ combined. New findings show it also kills more than a million young people and older adults every year.

Therese Dooley works for UNICEF, the United Nations Children's Fund.

THERESE DOOLEY: "In addition to the deaths, there's about two-point-five billion -- and I want to emphasize, about two-point-five billion cases of diarrhea among children every year."

VOICE ONE:

But a new report says sixty percent of those in developing countries do not get the suggested treatment. UNICEF and the World Health Organization wrote the report. It was published in the medical journal The Lancet.

VOICE TWO:
　
A doctor inspects a diarrhea patient at a hospital in Allahabad, India

Diarrhea causes fluid loss and reduces the body's supply of zinc⁶. This mineral is needed for normal growth and development. For the past five years, UNICEF and the W.H.O. have suggested zinc supplements to treat diarrhea. They also recommend fluid replacement⁷ solutions made from what are called low-osmolarity oral rehydration salts.

Yet zinc supplements remain largely unavailable in the developing world. The fluid replacement solutions can also be difficult to find.

A leading cause of diarrhea in children is the rotavirus. Public health officials are now advised to include the rotavirus vaccine⁸ in all national immunization programs. But the vaccine is still not available in many developing countries.

VOICE ONE:

The report says new ways to expand the use of treatments are now being developed. Proposals include, for example, supplying treatment kits⁹ through community health workers or special campaigns.

Experts say children with diarrhea should continue to eat, and babies should continue to breastfeed.

To help prevent diarrhea, the report suggests that children receive both the rotavirus and measles vaccines¹⁰. It also calls for improving supplies of clean water in developing countries.

Another prevention measure is hand washing with soap.

Diarrhea can be easy to prevent. Campaigns to fight childhood diarrhea had some success during the nineteen seventies and eighties. UNICEF and the W.H.O. hope this new plan will help return the issue to worldwide importance.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Asbestos is the name for several fibrous minerals. The long, thin fibers¹¹ are strong, and can work well to reduce temperature changes. They are also resistant¹² to fire.

Because of these qualities, people have been using asbestos in products for many years. Asbestos was a favorite of builders and manufacturers during the twentieth century. Some people praised it as a wonder material.

In recent years, however, asbestos has become feared as a threat to human health. Asbestos has been linked to serious health problems, including two kinds of cancer. In some countries, costly¹³ repairs were made on many buildings to remove the material. All new uses of asbestos were banned in the United States in two thousand seven.

VOICE ONE:
　
A home undergoing the removal of asbestos in Libby, Montana

Still, asbestos develop naturally in rocks and soil in some areas. The material can harm people who do not know it is there.

For more than a century, scientists in California have made maps of rocky areas that might contain asbestos. They did their research on the ground. But scientists are reporting that some asbestos in the earth can now be found quickly by sensing devices from the air.

Gregg Swayze works for the United States Geological Survey in Denver, Colorado. He led the team of scientists. They developed a new method of making maps of hard-to-reach areas. Their test flights took place in two thousand one. A report about the study appeared recently in the publication Geology.

VOICE TWO:

Each kind of mineral has its own structure and chemicals. Fibrous minerals like asbestos are no exception. The light absorbed, or collected, by an asbestos surface can be recognized by an appearance all its own. So can the light that the surface reflects, or reproduces.

Many minerals in the asbestos family can absorb light with a wavelength¹⁴ measuring two-point three micrometers. When the asbestos is seen in light near that wavelength, the minerals look darker than those around them.

The researchers examined areas in the California counties of El Dorado and Plumas from the air. The areas were suspected or known to have rocks and soil containing asbestos. The team's sensor¹⁵ devices were set on differing wavelengths¹⁶. The researchers were able to identify asbestos even in places eighty-percent covered by dry grass.

VOICE ONE:

But Mister Swayze notes limits on the asbestos searches from the air. He says water also holds some of the major wavelengths that identify asbestos. For this reason, he says, air searches would need to be done in areas where the climate is dry or plants lacking altogether.

For now, however, the method offers the promise of making a map of asbestos easier and faster than earlier ways.

Recognition of the harm asbestos can do and the ban on its new uses did not take place until recently. But people have suspected it for centuries. More than two thousand years ago, the Roman naturalist¹⁷ Pliny the Elder observed its harmful effects. Pliny and the Greek geographer¹⁸ Strabo both noted¹⁹ that slaves making cloth with the material developed lung problems.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

Shy people often avoid situations that force close contact with other people. They worry that something they say or do will make others laugh at them.

But some people worry much more than others about being the target of laughter. These people are frightened. They suffer from an emotional disorder²⁰ called gelotophobia. That long name comes from the Greek language. The word "Gelos" means "laugh," while "phobos" means fear.

VOICE ONE:

Victor Rubio is an expert on human behavior at the Autonomous²¹ University of Madrid. He says people laugh at others for many different reasons. He says being laughed at causes a fear response in the victim. That fear leads the victim to avoid social situations. Sadly, gelotophobia limits the way they lead their lives.

Mister Rubio was among researchers in a huge international study about laughter. The researchers wanted to understand the difference between normal shyness and true gelotophobia. Another goal was to measure the fear of being laughed at within different cultures. A team from the University of Zurich led ninety-three researchers from many countries in search of answers.

The researchers questioned more than twenty-two thousand people. They used questions provided in forty-two languages. Their findings were reported in the scientific publication "Humor."

VOICE TWO:

Some of the people questioned said they felt unsure of themselves in social situations. But they hid their feelings. Others said they avoided social situations where they had been laughed at before. People also admitted to differing levels of fear that they themselves were the targets of other people's laughter. The researchers measured and compared all these reactions.

Fear of being laughed at, being made fun of, is a common emotion. But the researchers learned that these feelings differed from nation to nation. For example, the study found that people in Turkmenistan and Cambodia are likely to hide insecure feelings when they are around others' laughter. But people in Iraq, Egypt and Jordan who feel they have been victims before may avoid such situations.

People in Finland were the least likely to believe that people laughing in their presence were making fun of them. Only eight and one half percent of Finns said that was true. In Thailand, however, eighty percent of those questioned said they believed they were objects of laughter.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by June Simms and Jerilyn Watson. Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Barbara Klein. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

 

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

3 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

4 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。

5 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。

6 zinc   

n.锌；vt.在...上镀锌

参考例句：

• Brass is formed by the fusion of copper and zinc.黄铜是通过铜和锌的熔合而成的。
• Zinc is used to protect other metals from corrosion.锌被用来保护其他金属不受腐蚀。

7 replacement   

n.取代，替换，交换；替代品，代用品

参考例句：

• We are hard put to find a replacement for our assistant.我们很难找到一个人来代替我们的助手。
• They put all the students through the replacement examination.他们让所有的学生参加分班考试。

8 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。

9 kits   

衣物和装备( kit的名词复数 )； 成套用品； 配套元件

参考例句：

• Keep your kits closed and locked when not in use. 不用的话把你的装备都锁好放好。
• Gifts Articles, Toy and Games, Wooden Toys, Puzzles, Craft Kits. 采购产品礼品，玩具和游戏，木制的玩具，智力玩具，手艺装备。

10 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

11 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

12 resistant   

adj.(to)抵抗的，有抵抗力的

参考例句：

• Many pests are resistant to the insecticide.许多害虫对这种杀虫剂有抵抗力。
• They imposed their government by force on the resistant population.他们以武力把自己的统治强加在持反抗态度的人民头上。

13 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

14 wavelength   

n.波长

参考例句：

• The authorities were unable to jam this wavelength.当局无法干扰这一波长。
• Radio One has broadcast on this wavelength for years.广播1台已经用这个波长广播多年了。

15 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

16 wavelengths   

n.波长( wavelength的名词复数 )；具有相同的/不同的思路；合拍；不合拍

参考例句：

• I find him difficult to talk to—we're on completely different wavelengths. 我没法和他谈话，因为我们俩完全不对路。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Sunlight consists of different wavelengths of radiation. 阳光由几种不同波长的射线组成。 来自辞典例句

17 naturalist   

n.博物学家(尤指直接观察动植物者)

参考例句：

• He was a printer by trade and naturalist by avocation.他从事印刷业，同时是个博物学爱好者。
• The naturalist told us many stories about birds.博物学家给我们讲述了许多有关鸟儿的故事。

18 geographer   

n.地理学者

参考例句：

• His grandfather is a geographer.他的祖父是一位地理学家。
• Li Siguang is a famous geographer.李四光是一位著名的地理学家。

19 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

20 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。

21 autonomous   

adj.自治的；独立的

参考例句：

• They proudly declared themselves part of a new autonomous province.他们自豪地宣布成为新自治省的一部分。
• This is a matter that comes within the jurisdiction of the autonomous region.这件事是属于自治区权限以内的事务。