VOA慢速英语2003年-发展与科学 On AIDS

Broadcast: August 5, 2003
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Bob Doughty¹ with Phoebe Zimmermann, and this is the VOA Special English program, SCIENCE IN THE NEWS.
VOICE TWO:
This week -- a report about the problems of social acceptance² for people with the AIDS 1)virus. And, new concerns about H-I-V infection rates in the United States.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
How would you react if you learned³ that someone in your family or your workplace has H-I-V? Human 2)immunodeficiency virus causes the deadly disease⁴ AIDS.
People who are infected must worry not only about their health. Often, they must also worry about how others will treat them.
Experts say one reason is because AIDS involves blood, sickness and death. These are some of the most important, yet most difficult, parts of life for people to deal with.
Another reason is because AIDS is often caused by actions that are unacceptable to many people. These include sexual⁵ relations before marriage or outside marriage, or between men. They also include the use of illegal drugs and shared needles.
Some might see H-I-V infection as punishment for a person's actions. Or even as a crime itself. People with H-I-V may be unable to get or keep jobs -- or even to continue to live with their families.
Often these bad feelings, this 3)stigma⁶, connected with AIDS is worse for women than for men.
VOICE TWO:
There are medicines that restrain⁷ the growth of H-I-V. Many people who are able to get these medicines continue to lead active lives. Yet acceptance may still escape them.
Many international organizations have programs that seek to end the stigma connected with H-I-V and AIDS. These organizations say it is important that infected people continue to live and work in their communities. For one thing, there are economic reasons, since so many of them are of working age.
These groups say government and business leaders must talk openly about AIDS. They say it is important to have messages on radio and television and elsewhere⁸ that talk about how the infection spreads. Such messages might tell people they cannot get H-I-V from toilet seats or if they shake hands.
But experts say it is also important to warn people that they can get infected from unprotected sex even with just one person -- if that one person has H-I-V.
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VOICE ONE:
Employers⁹ in several countries are trying to help workers with H-I-V.
The United States Agency¹⁰ for International Development paid for a study of programs for workers in the building trades in Vietnam. Construction workers are often young men who travel far from home to find work. They are among those especially likely to become infected with H-I-V.
One program in Vietnam brought visiting health educators to talk with the construction workers. A second program trained some of the workers as “peer¹¹ educators." They learned how to teach other workers about the dangers of AIDS.
The study found more success in the peer education program than in the program with the visiting health educators. It also cost the companies less to train their own employees.
Officials say the first goal of the program is to prevent workers from getting H-I-V and AIDS. The second goal is to change the ideas of employees toward¹² people with AIDS.
VOICE TWO:
How employees feel about AIDS can affect how much work their company can do. In the words of one company director in Vietnam: "When there is one case of H-I-V in the company, people may not want to work with that person or ask to work in a different place.”
So leaders of the building industry joined with the Ho Chi Minh City AIDS Committee and the Ho Chi Minh City Labor¹³ Union. They worked together to bring peer education to many construction places.
The trained peer educators were often older and better educated than the other workers. They were already giving advice to the younger men. The organizers say all they needed was training to provide information about H-I-V.
VOICE ONE:
The peer educators taught other men how to say “no” if a friend suggested a visit to a sex worker. They passed out condoms. They urged their co-workers to reduce their number of sexual partners. And they urged them to get treated for any kind of infection they developed.
The peer educators in Vietnam did not just talk. They also used songs and plays to communicate information about H-I-V.
(MUSIC BRIDGE)
VOICE TWO:
In South Africa, the Eskom company has won awards for its H-I-V programs in the workplace. Eskom is one of the largest electric power companies in the world. A study of its employees showed that ninety percent worried that if they had H-I-V or AIDS, other people would say bad things about them.
Eskom had health care workers in its workplaces. But many employees did not want to be seen with them. They worried that other people would think they were infected. So Eskom tried something else.
A support group for employees with H-I-V and AIDS was formed. This group is called “asikhulume,” which means “let's talk.” The people come from two Eskom workplaces. They help each other. But, with training, they also work to educate other employees.
VOICE ONE:
Mazwi Mngadi says he decided¹⁴ to talk about his infection so he could help others. He leads educational programs. He passes out 4)condoms, and makes sure containers of them are in the workplaces. He talks to individual workers and their families. He passes out a small book about his own story.
Mazwi Mngadi says he wants to make an example of himself. He says he wants other workers to see, in his words, "that you can still live your life even if you are H-I-V positive.”
(MUSIC BRIDGE)
VOICE TWO:
In the United States, health officials say they are concerned about a small increase last year in the number of people infected with H-I-V. This is the first increase in ten years. Since nineteen-ninety-three the numbers had gone down.
Doctors found forty-two-thousand new cases of H-I-V in the United States last year. This was an increase of two percent from the year before. But officials say the infection rate increased more than seven percent among men who have sexual relations with other men.
An H-I-V infection generally takes several years to become AIDS. But drugs that limit the spread of the virus have continued to reduce the number of deaths in the United States. About sixteen-thousand Americans with AIDS died last year. That was down six percent from two-thousand-one.
VOICE ONE:
Experts are not sure how to explain the increase in new infections. They say they fear that the people most likely to get H-I-V do not take the threat seriously. Some people may believe that medicines will solve any problems. Yet there is still no cure for AIDS, and no drugs to prevent it.
Officials say the increase might also suggest a problem with treatment efforts. Some people cannot use new drugs developed for H-I-V because of side effects. And sometimes the virus becomes resistant¹⁵ to the drugs.
The researchers say more work is needed to educate people about the threat of H-I-V and the danger of unprotected sexual relations.
VOICE TWO:
One of the aims of a new prevention campaign in the United States is also to increase H-I-V testing of pregnant¹⁶ women. The virus can spread from mother to child. Officials say many women still do not know about the treatment possibilities that exist to prevent that. Scientists also continue to work on new forms of protection, like the idea of a medicine for women to kill any H-I-V passed on by a sexual partner.
And, finally, this news -- organizers of the World AIDS Campaign have decided to center next year's events on "women and H-I-V/AIDS." Officials of the UNAIDS program say the last World AIDS Day organized around women took place in nineteen-ninety.
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
Science in the News was written by Karen Leggett and Nancy Steinbach. It was produced by Cynthia Kirk. This is Bob Doughty.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Phoebe Zimmermann. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

注释：
1) virus [5vaiErEs] n.[微]病毒, 滤过性微生物
2) immunodeficiency [7imjunEudi5fiFEnsi] n.[生]免疫缺陷
3) stigma [5sti^mE] n.污名, 耻辱
4) condom [5kCndEm] n.避孕套

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 acceptance   

n.接受，接收，验收，接纳；承认，认可

参考例句：

• The new laws gained widespread acceptance.新法令受到广泛赞同。
• It took years for Einstein's theory to gain acceptance.爱因斯坦的理论经过多年才被人们接受。

3 learned   

adj.有学问的，博学的；learn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He went into a rage when he learned about it.他听到这事后勃然大怒。
• In this little village,he passed for a learned man.在这个小村子里，他被视为有学问的人。

4 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。

5 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

6 stigma   

n.耻辱，污名；(花的)柱头

参考例句：

• Being an unmarried mother used to carry a social stigma.做未婚母亲在社会上曾是不光彩的事。
• The stigma of losing weighed heavily on the team.失败的耻辱让整个队伍压力沉重。

7 restrain   

vt.阻止，控制；抑制，遏制

参考例句：

• If you can't restrain your dog you must lock it up.如果你无法管住你的狗，就必须把它关起来。
• They couldn't restrain their excitement.他们无法抑制自己的激动。

8 elsewhere   

adv.在别处，到别处

参考例句：

• Our favourite restaurant was full so we had to go elsewhere.我们最喜欢去的那家饭店客满了，因此不得不改去别处。
• I have half a mind to move elsewhere.我有点想搬到别处去。

9 employers   

雇主( employer的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Employers must consider all candidates impartially and without bias. 雇主必须公平而毫无成见地考虑所有求职者。
• The onus is on employers to follow health and safety laws. 雇主有义务遵行健康安全法。

10 agency   

n.经办；代理；代理处

参考例句：

• This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
• He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。

11 peer   

n.同辈，同等地位的人，伙伴，贵族；vi.仔细看，费力地看

参考例句：

• Children are easily influenced by their peer.孩子很容易受同辈影响。
• He is a peer.他是一个贵族。

12 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。

13 labor   

n.劳动，努力，工作，劳工；分娩；vi.劳动，努力，苦干；vt.详细分析；麻烦

参考例句：

• We are never late in satisfying him for his labor.我们从不延误付给他劳动报酬。
• He was completely spent after two weeks of hard labor.艰苦劳动两周后，他已经疲惫不堪了。

14 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。

15 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。

16 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。