2006年VOA标准英语-AIDS Conference Closes with Call for Universal

By Joe De Capua
Toronto
19 August 2006

AIDS conference, Toronto  
  
Some 24,000 delegates, literally¹ thousands of scientific, social and community presentations and papers. Marches, demonstrations², tears and laughter, bold statements and cries for help. AIDS 2006 is now history.

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"This conference cannot be deemed a success unless we collectively realize our theme of Time to Deliver. Indeed we will have failed unless we rapidly and dramatically expand by millions the numbers of people around the world with access to anti-retroviral drugs. Clearly progress cannot be achieved if more people continue to become infected by HIV each year than the numbers that are able to access treatment," said Dr Mark Wainberg, conference co-chair.

UN Special Envoy³ for HIV/AIDS in Africa Stephen Lewis, whose term expires at the end of the year, was keynote speaker at the closing ceremony. And as he has been throughout the conference, outspoken⁴. He criticized those promoting an abstinence-only policy for HIV prevention, who require other countries to adhere to that policy before getting funding.

"Ideological⁵ rigidity⁶ almost never works when applied⁷ to the human condition. Moreover, it's an antiquated⁸ throwback to the conditionality⁹ of yesteryear to tell any government how to allocate¹⁰ its money for prevention. That approach has a name. It's called neo-colonialism," he said.

 
U.N. Special Envoy to Africa Stephen Lewis (l) with former U.S. President Bill Clinton 
  
Lewis says more awareness¹¹ is needed about how male circumcision can help prevent HIV infection - stressing cultural sensitivity and quality medical care. "The men are lining¹² up for the procedure in Swaziland. And when I was in the Zambian copper¹³ belt just a couple of weeks ago, at an animated¹⁴ meeting with the district commissioner¹⁵, he indicated he was part of an ethnic¹⁶ group that was circumcised. I then revealed that I was circumcised. And there followed a joyous¹⁷ frenzy¹⁸ of male bonding. Amongst all the circumsizees," he said.

But Lewis' turned serious again when he called for multi-drug treatment for all HIV positive mothers to prevent infection in their newborns. "It is inexcusable that in Africa and other parts of the developing world we continue to use single dose Navirapine rather than full triple therapy," he said.

The UN Special Envoy addressed the issue of violence against women, saying it is not only the young who are being raped²⁰.

"How would you characterize an emerging pattern of the sexual assault of women between the ages of 65 and 80? The rapists confident they can rape¹⁹ with impunity²¹ without fear of transmission. Sexual violence is everywhere reported, from marital²² rape to rape as a war crime. The phenomenon is by no means singularly African. We live in a world community where the depravity of sexual violence has run amok. In Africa, however, the violence and the virus go together," he said.

As for the growing number of AIDS orphans²³, Lewis describes the problem as "walking on the knife's edge of an unsolvable human tragedy."

"In Africa, the grandmothers are the unsung heroes of the continent. These extraordinary, resilient, courageous²⁴ women fighting through the inconsolable grief of the loss of their own adult children becoming parents again in their 50's and 60's and 70's and 80's. I attended a grandmother's gathering²⁵ last weekend on the eve of the conference. The grandmothers were magnificent. But they're all struggling with the same anguished²⁶ nightmare - What happens to my grandchildren when I die?," he said.

Lewis has been a leading force both his capacity as a UN envoy and through his foundation for gender²⁷ equality. He's called for a new UN agency for women.

It's unclear who will replace Stephen Lewis as the next UN Special Envoy for HIV/AIDS in Africa. "For my own part, when I leave the post of envoy at the end of the year I have asked that my successor be an African, but most important, an African woman," he said.

Preparations are already underway for the 17th International AIDS Conference, which will be in Mexico City in 2008.

1 literally   

adv.照字面意义，逐字地；确实

参考例句：

• He translated the passage literally.他逐字逐句地翻译这段文字。
• Sometimes she would not sit down till she was literally faint.有时候，她不走到真正要昏厥了，决不肯坐下来。

2 demonstrations   

证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威

参考例句：

• Lectures will be interspersed with practical demonstrations. 讲课中将不时插入实际示范。
• The new military government has banned strikes and demonstrations. 新的军人政府禁止罢工和示威活动。

3 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

4 outspoken   

adj.直言无讳的，坦率的，坦白无隐的

参考例句：

• He was outspoken in his criticism.他在批评中直言不讳。
• She is an outspoken critic of the school system in this city.她是这座城市里学校制度的坦率的批评者。

5 ideological   

a.意识形态的

参考例句：

• He always tries to link his study with his ideological problems. 他总是把学习和自己的思想问题联系起来。
• He helped me enormously with advice on how to do ideological work. 他告诉我怎样做思想工作，对我有很大帮助。

6 rigidity   

adj.钢性，坚硬

参考例句：

• The rigidity of the metal caused it to crack.这金属因刚度强而产生裂纹。
• He deplored the rigidity of her views.他痛感她的观点僵化。

7 applied   

adj.应用的；v.应用，适用

参考例句：

• She plans to take a course in applied linguistics.她打算学习应用语言学课程。
• This cream is best applied to the face at night.这种乳霜最好晚上擦脸用。

8 antiquated   

adj.陈旧的，过时的

参考例句：

• Many factories are so antiquated they are not worth saving.很多工厂过于陈旧落后，已不值得挽救。
• A train of antiquated coaches was waiting for us at the siding.一列陈旧的火车在侧线上等着我们。

9 conditionality   

n.受限制性，制约性

参考例句：

• We have the same value plus half the upside, with no conditionality. 我们获得了相同价值，外加一半的上行机会，而且没有条件限制。 来自互联网
• Gate conditionality does not mitigate the adverse effect of gate review criteria. 关卡制约性不会减少关卡评价标准的反作用。 来自互联网

10 allocate   

vt.分配，分派；把…拨给；把…划归

参考例句：

• You must allocate the money carefully.你们必须谨慎地分配钱。
• They will allocate fund for housing.他们将拨出经费建房。

11 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。

12 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

13 copper   

n.铜；铜币；铜器；adj.铜(制)的；(紫)铜色的

参考例句：

• The students are asked to prove the purity of copper.要求学生们检验铜的纯度。
• Copper is a good medium for the conduction of heat and electricity.铜是热和电的良导体。

14 animated   

adj.生气勃勃的，活跃的，愉快的

参考例句：

• His observations gave rise to an animated and lively discussion.他的言论引起了一场气氛热烈而活跃的讨论。
• We had an animated discussion over current events last evening.昨天晚上我们热烈地讨论时事。

15 commissioner   

n.（政府厅、局、处等部门）专员，长官，委员

参考例句：

• The commissioner has issued a warrant for her arrest.专员发出了对她的逮捕令。
• He was tapped for police commissioner.他被任命为警务处长。

16 ethnic   

adj.人种的，种族的，异教徒的

参考例句：

• This music would sound more ethnic if you played it in steel drums.如果你用钢鼓演奏，这首乐曲将更具民族特色。
• The plan is likely only to aggravate ethnic frictions.这一方案很有可能只会加剧种族冲突。

17 joyous   

adj.充满快乐的；令人高兴的

参考例句：

• The lively dance heightened the joyous atmosphere of the scene.轻快的舞蹈给这场戏渲染了欢乐气氛。
• They conveyed the joyous news to us soon.他们把这一佳音很快地传递给我们。

18 frenzy   

n.疯狂，狂热，极度的激动

参考例句：

• He was able to work the young students up into a frenzy.他能激起青年学生的狂热。
• They were singing in a frenzy of joy.他们欣喜若狂地高声歌唱。

19 rape   

n.抢夺，掠夺，强奸；vt.掠夺，抢夺，强奸

参考例句：

• The rape of the countryside had a profound ravage on them.对乡村的掠夺给他们造成严重创伤。
• He was brought to court and charged with rape.他被带到法庭并被指控犯有强奸罪。

20 raped   

v.以暴力夺取，强夺( rape的过去式和过去分词 )；强奸

参考例句：

• A young woman was brutally raped in her own home. 一名年轻女子在自己家中惨遭强暴。 来自辞典例句
• We got stick together, or we will be having our women raped. 我们得团结一致，不然我们的妻女就会遭到蹂躏。 来自辞典例句

21 impunity   

n.(惩罚、损失、伤害等的)免除

参考例句：

• You will not escape with impunity.你不可能逃脱惩罚。
• The impunity what compulsory insurance sets does not include escapement.交强险规定的免责范围不包括逃逸。

22 marital   

adj.婚姻的，夫妻的

参考例句：

• Her son had no marital problems.她的儿子没有婚姻问题。
• I regret getting involved with my daughter's marital problems;all its done is to bring trouble about my ears.我后悔干涉我女儿的婚姻问题, 现在我所做的一切将给我带来无穷的烦恼。

23 orphans   

孤儿( orphan的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The poor orphans were kept on short commons. 贫苦的孤儿们吃不饱饭。
• Their uncle was declared guardian to the orphans. 这些孤儿的叔父成为他们的监护人。

24 courageous   

adj.勇敢的，有胆量的

参考例句：

• We all honour courageous people.我们都尊重勇敢的人。
• He was roused to action by courageous words.豪言壮语促使他奋起行动。

25 gathering   

n.集会，聚会，聚集

参考例句：

• He called on Mr. White to speak at the gathering.他请怀特先生在集会上讲话。
• He is on the wing gathering material for his novels.他正忙于为他的小说收集资料。

26 anguished   

adj.极其痛苦的v.使极度痛苦(anguish的过去式)

参考例句：

• Desmond eyed her anguished face with sympathy. 看着她痛苦的脸，德斯蒙德觉得理解。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The loss of her husband anguished her deeply. 她丈夫的死亡使她悲痛万分。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

27 gender   

n.（生理上的）性，（名词、代词等的）性

参考例句：

• French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语，所有的名词都有性。
• Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。