VOA慢速英语2003年-发展与科学 America's Tree Defi

 

Broadcast: October 7, 2003
(THEME)
VOICE ONE:
I'm Bob Doughty¹ with Sarah Long, and this is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, from VOA Special English.
VOICE TWO:
This week -- new polio cases in Africa ... a tree deficit² in American cities ... and, later, monkeys play fair ... and the idea of "cough C-P-R."
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
Cases of 1)polio have been reported in three West African countries that had been free of the disease³. The World Health Organization says cases have been reported in 2)Ghana, 3)Togo and 4)Burkina Faso.
Polio is also spreading again in Nigeria. Doctors with the W-H-O say the virus has spread to the city of 5)Lagos. Less than a year ago, the director of the national program on 6)immunization said Nigeria was close to stopping the disease.
W-H-O communications officer Melissa Corkum says emergency vaccination⁴ campaigns will take place in Togo, Ghana and Burkina Faso. They will also take place in Benin, Cameroon and Chad to block any possible spread. Mizz Corkum says the campaigns will cost ten million dollars.
VOICE TWO:
The polio virus spreads quickly by contact with human waste through unclean conditions. The virus enters through the mouth. Within four days to a month, victims may develop a high body temperature, headaches, 7)vomiting⁵ and difficulty moving.
They can lose the ability to move their arms or legs. Breathing may also become difficult. There is no cure.
In Nigeria, most polio cases are in the north. About thirty-five percent of children in the north are 8)vaccinated. Experts say at least eighty percent must get the vaccine⁷ to stop the spread of polio.
But the Daily Champion newspaper in Lagos says some people are afraid of the vaccine. It says that is because of statements made by a member of the Supreme⁸ Council⁹ for 9)Sharia in Nigeria. Doctor Ibrahim Datti Ahmed said the vaccine is not safe.
The World Health Organization is working with traditional rulers and religious leaders in Nigeria to tell people that Doctor Ahmed is wrong.
VOICE ONE:
World health officials want to end polio by two-thousand-five. The number of new cases has dropped by ninety-nine percent. Experts say that is because so many children have received the vaccine.
Last year health workers in one hundred countries gave the polio vaccine to more than five-hundred million children. India is one country that has increased its vaccination rates. India had the highest rate of new polio cases, until the recent reports from Nigeria.
Health officials say it is important to vaccinate⁶ people as soon as possible after reports of new cases. The polio vaccine is taken by mouth. It is a few drops of liquid. The vaccine does not have to be given by a health worker. Medical experts say children should receive the vaccine three times before they are one year old.
Since there is no cure, prevention is the only way to stop polio.
(MUSIC)
VOICE TWO:
Fairness was the subject of a recent study at Emory University in Atlanta, Georgia. The study showed that humans are not the only primates¹⁰ that dislike unequal treatment.
Sarah Brosnan and Frans de Waal led the study. They worked with brown 10)capuchin monkeys. They taught the monkeys to trade plastic tokens¹² for food. They tested the monkeys two at a time so the animals could see each other.
The monkeys like to eat 11)cucumbers. So it was easy to get them to trade tokens for cucumber¹³ pieces. But it was not so easy if one monkey saw the other get a food they like even more -- a grape.
Often the insulted¹⁴ monkey refused to give up its token¹¹ or rejected the piece of cucumber. Some threw the token or the cucumber out of the cage.
The researchers also gave grapes as rewards for different levels of work. Some monkeys were upset to see others receive a grape after no work at all.
VOICE ONE:
Sarah Brosnan says the study found that the capuchin monkeys compared their rewards with those of their partners. They refused to accept a lower-value reward if their partner received one of higher value. Think of how humans react when they see other someone else get a better deal.
The researchers used only female¹⁵ capuchins. They say males are likely to share food even without a fair deal. The social system of capuchins might play a part. Males are usually either the partner of, or the father of, all the other monkeys around them.
VOICE TWO:
Sarah Brosnan says a sense of fairness is needed to live in large, complex groups. The researchers say the study supports the idea that primates developed this sense early, as cooperation evolved¹⁶.
The findings¹⁷ appeared last month in the publication¹⁸ Nature. The researchers at Emory University are also doing a similar study with 12)chimpanzees.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
An environmental group says American cities lost more than one in five of their trees during the past ten years. The group is called American Forests. It says the services that trees provide to keep air and water clean are worth thousands of millions of dollars.
American Forests released¹⁹ a study at the National Urban Forest Conference last month in San Antonio, Texas. The group used satellite images to study tree cover in four-hundred-forty-eight cities. It compared these with images taken ten years earlier.
The study found that American cities have twenty-one percent fewer trees today. Gary Moll is an official with American Forests. He calls the problem a "tree deficit." Mister²⁰ Moll blames road projects and expanding areas of development.
VOICE TWO:
With fewer trees, cities have to find other ways to remove storm water. Gary Moll says trees help protect water supplies and prevent flooding. Trees also remove pollution from the air and reduce the need for electric cooling during hot weather.
American Forests says the loss is especially bad in fast-growing cities in the southern states. Gary Moll says Atlanta had the worst tree loss. The group praised San Antonio for taking steps to fight the problem. It also praised Charlotte, North Carolina, and 13)San Diego, California.
The group was started in eighteen-seventy-five to get people to plant and care for trees. It wants to plant one-thousand-seven-hundred-million trees during the next ten years to replace the lost cover.
(MUSIC)
VOICE ONE:
A researcher in Poland says coughing hard may help people during the most common form of heart attack. Doctor Tadeusz Petelenz is a professor at the Silesian Medical School in 14)Katowice. He studied one-hundred-fifteen patients at risk of a heart attack. They were trained to cough at the first sign of an attack. They learned²¹ to start with one cough every one to two seconds, in sets of five coughs.
They used this method in three-hundred-sixty-five cases when they thought they were about to lose consciousness²². Doctor Petelenz says the symptoms disappeared in all but seventy-three cases.
VOICE TWO:
Doctor Petelenz discussed his findings about "cough C-P-R" during a recent meeting in Vienna of the European Society of 15)Cardiology. He said the pumping action caused by deep coughing forces blood to the brain when the heart begins to fail. Traditional C-P-R, or 16)cardiopulmonary 17)resuscitation²³, combines rescue breaths with compressions on the chest.
When the heart fails, victims can lose consciousness very quickly. Brain damage and death can follow within minutes. Doctor Petelenz says coughing may give a person enough time to call for help.
Most attacks are caused by a sudden problem with heart rhythm²⁴. Doctor Petelenz says coughing might help in these cases, called 18)arrhythmia. The traditional treatment is electric shock to the heart.
VOICE ONE:
Doctor Petelenz says cough C-P-R should be taught to the public. Some doctors have patients cough to increase blood flow during hospital treatment for heart disease. But others say the idea of cough C-P-R needs more study.
The American Heart Association²⁵ says it is possible that a person could send enough blood to the brain to stay conscious for a few seconds. But it says this practice is not useful enough to teach with traditional lifesaving methods.
(THEME)
VOICE TWO:
SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Karen Leggett, Lawan Davis, George Grow and Cynthia Kirk, who was also our producer. This is Sarah Long.
VOICE ONE:
And this is Bob Doughty. Join us again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

注释：
1) polio [ 5pEuliEu] n.脊髓灰质炎，小儿麻痹症
2) Ghana [ 5^B:nE ] n.加纳
3) Togo [ 5tEu^Eu ] n. 多哥
4) Burkina Faso [b\:9ki:nE 5fAsEJ] 布基纳法索(非洲国家)
5) Lagos [ 5lei^Cs ] n.尼日利亚的首都
6) immunization [ 7imju:nai5zeiFEn ] n.使免除, 使免疫
7) vomiting [5vRmItiN] n.呕吐, 呕吐物
8) vaccinate [5vAksineit ] v.进行预防接种
9) Sharia [FE`ri:E] n.伊斯兰教教法
10) capuchin [ 5kApjuFin ] (天主教的)圣方济会托钵僧
11) cucumber [ 5kju:kQmbE ] n.[植]黄瓜
12) chimpanzee [ 5tFimpEn5zi: ] n.[动]非洲的小人猿, 黑猩猩
13) San Diego [ 7sAndi(:)5ei^Eu ] n.圣地亚哥,圣迭哥
14) Katowice [ 7kB:tC:5vi:tse ] 卡托维兹(波兰南部一城市)
15) Cardiology [ 7kB:di5ClEdVi ] n.[医]心(脏)病学
16) cardiopulmonary [9kB:dIEJ`pQlmEnErI] adj.[医]心肺的, 与心肺有关的
17) resuscitation [ ri7sQsi5teiFEn ] n.复生, 复兴
18) arrhythmia [ E5riWmiE ] n.[医]心律不齐, 心律失常
 

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 deficit   

n.亏空，亏损；赤字，逆差

参考例句：

• The directors have reported a deficit of 2.5 million dollars.董事们报告赤字为250万美元。
• We have a great deficit this year.我们今年有很大亏损。

3 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。

4 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

5 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

6 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

7 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。

8 supreme   

adj.极度的，最重要的；至高的，最高的

参考例句：

• It was the supreme moment in his life.那是他一生中最重要的时刻。
• He handed up the indictment to the supreme court.他把起诉书送交最高法院。

9 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

10 primates   

primate的复数

参考例句：

• Primates are alert, inquisitive animals. 灵长目动物是机灵、好奇的动物。
• Consciousness or cerebration has been said to have emerged in the evolution of higher primates. 据说意识或思考在较高级灵长类的进化中已出现。

11 token   

n.筹码，信物，纪念品，礼券；adj.象征性的

参考例句：

• This little gift is a token of our regard.这点礼物是我们大家的一点心意。
• Black is a token of mourning.黑色是沮丧的象征。

12 tokens   

代币( token的名词复数 )； 象征

参考例句：

• These tokens are exchangeable for DVDs only. 这些赠券只能换 DVD 盘。
• The council gives old people free tokens. 委员会发给老年人免费代金券。

13 cucumber   

n.黄瓜

参考例句：

• This cucumber plant is climbing.这棵黄瓜爬蔓了。
• Let me eat a cucumber.让我吃一根黄瓜.

14 insulted   

侮辱，冒犯( insult的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• I have never been so insulted in my life! 我一生中从未被如此侮辱过！
• These boys insulted a girl by spitting at her. 这几个男孩向一个女孩吐口水侮辱她。

15 female   

adj.雌的，女(性)的；n.雌性的动物，女子

参考例句：

• We only employ female workers.我们只雇用女工。
• The animal in the picture was a female elephant.照片上的动物是头母象。

16 evolved   

动词evolve的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• The idea evolved from a drawing I discovered in the attic. 这种想法是从我在阁楼里发现的一幅画得到启发的。
• Man was evolved from an ancestor that was probably arboreal. 人大概是从住在树上的祖先进化而来的。

17 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

18 publication   

n.出版，发行；出版；公布，发表

参考例句：

• They don't think this article is suitable for publication.他们认为这篇文章不宜发表。
• The government has delayed publication of the trade figures.政府已将贸易统计数字延后公布。

19 released   

v.释放( release的过去式和过去分词 )；放开；发布；发行

参考例句：

• He was released on bail pending committal proceedings. 他交保获释正在候审。
• With hindsight it is easy to say they should not have released him. 事后才说他们本不应该释放他，这倒容易。

20 mister   

n.(略作Mr.全称很少用于书面)先生

参考例句：

• Mister Smith is my good friend.史密斯先生是我的好朋友。
• He styled himself " Mister Clean ".他自称是“清廉先生”。

21 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。

22 consciousness   

n.意识，觉悟，知觉

参考例句：

• The experience helped to change her social consciousness.这种经验有助于改变她的社会意识。
• He lost consciousness at the first whiff of ether.他一嗅到乙醚便失去了知觉。

23 resuscitation   

n.复活

参考例句：

• Despite attempts at resuscitation,Mr Lynch died a week later in hospital.虽经全力抢救，但林奇先生一周以后还是在医院去世了。
• We gave him mouth-to-mouth resuscitation and heart massage.我们对他进行了口对口复苏救治和心脏按摩。

24 rhythm   

n.韵律；节奏

参考例句：

• He has an ear for the rhythm of Irish speech.他对爱尔兰语的节奏很敏感。
• His poem has a pleasing rhythm.他的诗有和谐的韵律。

25 association   

n.联盟，协会，社团；交往，联合；联想

参考例句：

• Our long association with your company has brought great benefits.我方和贵公司的长期合作带来了巨大的利益。
• I broke away from the association ten years ago.我10年前就脱离了那个团体。