VOA慢速英语2010年-Economics Report - With Bedbugs, Some

This is the VOA Special English Economics Report.

They are not even five millimeters long and cannot fly or jump. Yet bedbugs strike fear in homeowners and business owners. Well, not all business owners. Some see money in these little bloodsuckers.

Missy Henriksen speaks for the National Pest Management Association.

MISSY HENRIKSEN: "We are now seeing bedbugs in what we would consider to be atypical locations: schools and hospitals, retail³ locations, movie theaters. So, as the numbers have grown, those bed bugs² are spreading out and traveling along with people."

New York and other cities have outbreaks. But the United States is not the only country affected⁴.

Jeff White is an insect expert who hosts Bed Bug¹ TV on the website BedBug Central.

JEFF WHITE: "What has caused this rapid expansion of bedbug infestations⁵ -- and the world for that matter -- is the lack of public awareness⁶."

Entomologist Jeff White holds a container of live bed bugs at the North American Bed Bug Summit in Rosemont, Illinois, on September 21

Mr. White says bedbugs nearly disappeared from the United States for fifty or sixty years. Now researchers are looking for faster, safer ways to control them without the kinds of poisons used in the past.

The name is misleading. Bedbugs do not just live in beds. Mr. White says they can survive for a year without food -- that is, blood.

Last week, an industry event called BedBug University's North American Summit 2010 took place near Chicago, Illinois. More than three hundred sixty people attended the two-day meeting.

The industry says bedbugs are the most difficult pest to control. Treatments can cost from several hundred dollars to thousands of dollars in, say, a hotel or apartment building.

A common bedbug full of blood after feeding on a human arm

Missy Henriksen says Americans spent almost two hundred sixty million dollars on bedbug treatments last year. That was only five percent of total spending on pest control, she says, but that number does not include other costs.

MISSY HENRIKSEN: "I think the overall economic impact because of bedbugs is certainly much more significant. We're finding that businesses who have bedbugs oftentimes will close to remediate the problem."

Bedbugs have not been shown to spread disease. But they can leave itchy bite marks and cause allergic⁷ reactions in some people.

Lately, however, another bug has caught America's attention. The National Pest Management Association is now getting the most questions about stink⁸ bugs. Outbreaks have invaded homes and offices in many states.

The Asian stink bug

Stink bugs are harmless except to farms and gardens. And they smell bad only if you smash them.

And that's the VOA Special English Economics Report, written by Mario Ritter. You can get transcripts⁹, MP3s and podcasts of our shows at voaspecialenglish.com. And follow us on Facebook, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Doug Johnson
 

1 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

2 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 retail   

v./n.零售；adv.以零售价格

参考例句：

• In this shop they retail tobacco and sweets.这家铺子零售香烟和糖果。
• These shoes retail at 10 yuan a pair.这些鞋子零卖10元一双。

4 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

5 infestations   

n.（害虫、盗贼等）群袭，出没，横行( infestation的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The arrival of warm weather raises the specter of disease and increased rat infestations caused by rotting garbage. 天气转暖使人们担心垃圾腐烂会引起疾病传播和鼠群猖獗。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Piperazine citrate is the drug of choice in the treatment of Ascaris infestations. 枸橼酸哌嗪治疗蛔虫感染是最好的药物。 来自辞典例句

6 awareness   

n.意识，觉悟，懂事，明智

参考例句：

• There is a general awareness that smoking is harmful.人们普遍认识到吸烟有害健康。
• Environmental awareness has increased over the years.这些年来人们的环境意识增强了。

7 allergic   

adj.过敏的，变态的

参考例句：

• Alice is allergic to the fur of cats.艾丽斯对猫的皮毛过敏。
• Many people are allergic to airborne pollutants such as pollen.许多人对空气传播的污染物过敏，比如花粉。

8 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

9 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句