2007年VOA标准英语-Nigerians Turn to Carter Center to Fight Water-

By Gilbert da Costa
Nasawara
16 February 2007

Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter is known in Nigeria as the architect of a sustained campaign to rid the country of Guinea worm disease. Guinea worm is a water-borne worm infection that is contracted when people drink water containing the worm's tiny eggs. Gilbert da Costa reports that with Nigeria on the verge¹ of conquering Guinea worm, Mr. Carter's organization, the Carter Center, is now focusing on eradicating² schistosomiasis, another debilitating³ water-borne disease in Nigeria.

 
In Kwa’al, Nigeria it is not a choice between clean water and schistosomiasis contaminated water, it is a choice between contaminated water and no water
Nasarawa, a small, dusty community of about 15,000 residents, most of whom are farmers, is about 100 kilometers from the Nigerian capital, Abuja.
 
Thursday was a big day for this rural community as they converged⁴ at the local primary school grounds, amidst drumming and dancing.

The villagers were clearly enthusiastic to receive drug treatment for schistosomiasis. Schistosomiasis is a parasitic⁵ infection contracted when a person's skin comes in contact with water containing certain types of snails⁷ that carry the parasite⁸. The debilitating disease leads to poor growth and impaired⁹ learning.
 
Some 100 meters behind the school is the village's main source of water, a shallow and slow moving river. The river remains¹⁰ a major attraction in Nasarawa and hosts a variety of activities, from young boys enjoying a swim, to women out washing and even young girls fetching drinking water.

It is also responsible for most of the impoverished¹¹ village's health problems. Dr. Emmanuel Miri, of the Carter Center in Abuja, explains.

"During the dry season, the level of water is going [down]. When it begins to stagnate¹², into smaller, smaller portions that is when it is most ideal for the snail⁶ to thrive," he said.  "The snail thrives when a child has blood in his urine and urinates in the water as they are bathing, the eggs in that urine is taken by the snail. It remains in the urine for about 40 days and at the end of which a worm emerges. That worm is the one that causes the problem anybody passing through that water; it will just penetrate¹³ through the skin. And once it penetrates¹⁴ the skin, it goes into the bladder or intestines¹⁵."

Dr. Miri says schistosomiasis has become endemic and requires urgent attention. He says the Carter Center hopes to raise funds to make the miracle drug, known as praziquental, more accessible in the rural and impoverished community.

"Every 10 child[ren] you pick from this school, six of them have the disease," he added.  "The drug we are using for the treatment, praziquental, is not donated by any company. Praziquental is expensive and there are no donors¹⁶. And we are hoping that after this clip [Africa tour], he [Mr. Carter] will be able to use it to source for funding for this drug."

 
Jimmy Carter (file photo)
Former U.S. President Jimmy Carter has long campaigned for the eradication¹⁷ of Guinea worm in Nigeria. Once the most endemic Guinea worm country in the world, Nigeria reported only 16 cases in 2006.  Speaking in the Nigerian capital, Abuja, the delighted former president announced Nigeria is expected to end transmission in 2007.

"The first disease that we tackled in Nigeria was Guinea worm," said Mr. Carter.  "At that time, more than 650,000 people suffered this terrible disease of Guinea worm and last year, with the inspired leadership of your health minister and others, we only found 16 cases in the whole country. And my prediction is that next year, you will see the last case of Guinea worm in Nigeria."

Despite surging oil revenues, Nigeria's health system is critically underfunded and relies heavily on external support.
 
Nigeria, Africa's most populous¹⁸ country, also has one of the highest burdens of disease.

1 verge   

n.边，边缘；v.接近，濒临

参考例句：

• The country's economy is on the verge of collapse.国家的经济已到了崩溃的边缘。
• She was on the verge of bursting into tears.她快要哭出来了。

2 eradicating   

摧毁，完全根除( eradicate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective: To study the acute and chronic toxicity of Ten-flavor-acne eradicating-capsule. 目的：探讨复方中药合剂十味平痤胶囊的急性及慢性毒性。
• We are on the verge of eradicating polio in the world. 我们已在世界消除小儿？痹症的边缘了。

3 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

4 converged   

v.（线条、运动的物体等）会于一点( converge的过去式 )；（趋于）相似或相同；人或车辆汇集；聚集

参考例句：

• Thousands of supporters converged on London for the rally. 成千上万的支持者从四面八方汇聚伦敦举行集会。
• People converged on the political meeting from all parts of the city. 人们从城市的四面八方涌向这次政治集会。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

6 snail   

n.蜗牛

参考例句：

• Snail is a small plant-eating creature with a soft body.蜗牛是一种软体草食动物。
• Time moved at a snail's pace before the holidays.放假前的时间过得很慢。

7 snails   

n.蜗牛；迟钝的人；蜗牛( snail的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• I think I'll try the snails for lunch—I'm feeling adventurous today. 我想我午餐要尝一下蜗牛——我今天很想冒险。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Most snails have shells on their backs. 大多数蜗牛背上有壳。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 parasite   

n.寄生虫；寄生菌；食客

参考例句：

• The lazy man was a parasite on his family.那懒汉是家里的寄生虫。
• I don't want to be a parasite.I must earn my own way in life.我不想做寄生虫，我要自己养活自己。

9 impaired   

adj.受损的；出毛病的；有（身体或智力）缺陷的v.损害，削弱( impair的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• Much reading has impaired his vision. 大量读书损害了他的视力。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• His hearing is somewhat impaired. 他的听觉已受到一定程度的损害。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 impoverished   

adj.穷困的，无力的，用尽了的v.使（某人）贫穷( impoverish的过去式和过去分词 )；使（某物）贫瘠或恶化

参考例句：

• the impoverished areas of the city 这个城市的贫民区
• They were impoverished by a prolonged spell of unemployment. 他们因长期失业而一贫如洗。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 stagnate   

v.停止

参考例句：

• Where the masses are not roused,work will stagnate.哪里不发动群众，哪里的工作就死气沉沉。
• Taiwan's economy is likely to stagnate for a long time to come.台湾经济很可能会停滞很长一段时间。

13 penetrate   

v.透(渗)入；刺入，刺穿；洞察，了解

参考例句：

• Western ideas penetrate slowly through the East.西方观念逐渐传入东方。
• The sunshine could not penetrate where the trees were thickest.阳光不能透入树木最浓密的地方。

14 penetrates   

v.穿过( penetrate的第三人称单数 )；刺入；了解；渗透

参考例句：

• This is a telescope that penetrates to the remote parts of the universe. 这是一架能看到宇宙中遥远地方的望远镜。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The dust is so fine that it easily penetrates all the buildings. 尘土极细，能极轻易地钻入一切建筑物。 来自辞典例句

15 intestines   

n.肠( intestine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Perhaps the most serious problems occur in the stomach and intestines. 最严重的问题或许出现在胃和肠里。 来自辞典例句
• The traps of carnivorous plants function a little like the stomachs and small intestines of animals. 食肉植物的捕蝇器起着动物的胃和小肠的作用。 来自辞典例句

16 donors   

n.捐赠者( donor的名词复数 )；献血者；捐血者；器官捐献者

参考例句：

• Please email us to be removed from our active list of blood donors. 假如你想把自己的名字从献血联系人名单中删去，请给我们发电子邮件。
• About half this amount comes from individual donors and bequests. 这笔钱大约有一半来自个人捐赠及遗赠。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 eradication   

n.根除

参考例句：

• The eradication of an established infestation is not easy. 根除昆虫蔓延是不容易的。
• This is often required for intelligent control and eradication. 这经常需要灵巧的控制与消除。

18 populous   

adj.人口稠密的，人口众多的

参考例句：

• London is the most populous area of Britain.伦敦是英国人口最稠密的地区。
• China is the most populous developing country in the world.中国是世界上人口最多的发展中国家。