VOA标准英语2009年-Afghanistan Closes Schools Due to Increasi

By Sean Maroney
Kabul
08 November 2009

 
An Afghan motorcyclist adjusts a newly purchased surgical¹ mask at a market place in Kabul, Afghanistan, 02 Nov 2009
The Afghan government has closed the country's schools and universities for most of November in response to an increased number of H1N1 flu cases. Since July, officials have diagnosed nearly 350 people with the virus. There have been a total of 772 confirmed cases, and 10 people have died.

Afghan officials say most of the flu cases have been in Kabul, Parwan and the provinces of Herot, Kandahar, Ningrahar and Bamayan.

Afghanistan's Health Minister Dr. Sayed Mohammad Amin Fatemi says only Afghans so far have died from the virus.

He says the basic reason for the deaths has been because the victims went to treatment centers too late. He says most of the foreigners with the virus have been with the NATO forces, and they were able to start their treatments early, which helped their chances for survival.

The United Nations World Health Organization representative for Afghanistan, Peter Graass, says that despite the last eight years of medical improvements in the country, there is still a lot more work left to do.

"Somewhere between 60 and 70 percent of all Afghans have access within two hours of walking or traveling to basic health services, so that means that under the best of circumstances we have a very sizable - still very sizable - proportion of the population that is basically missing out," he said.

He says the Afghan health services are reasonably prepared to deal with the H1N1 outbreak. But he adds that officials believe the actual number of cases is much higher and are preparing for scenarios² in which a fourth of the country contracts the flu virus.

Graass says his organization is still waiting on the first 11 million doses of the vaccination³.

"Half a million [doses] will come to Afghanistan, so almost 20 percent of the total will come to Afghanistan, so that is good news for us," he said. "And the [Afghan] government is working very hard with its partners on the deployment⁴ plan."

The H1N1 virus has differed from normal, seasonal⁵ influenza⁶ in that it has persisted during the summer months and affected⁷ relatively⁸ healthy people under the age of 65. The WHO says most people recover without hospitalization.

Last week, the WHO announced that the H1N1 virus has become the dominant⁹ flu strain in the world. According to numbers available in late October, there have been more than 440,000 laboratory confirmed cases of H1N1 influenza and more than 5,700 deaths reported to the U.N. agency

1 surgical   

adj.外科的，外科医生的，手术上的

参考例句：

• He performs the surgical operations at the Red Cross Hospital.他在红十字会医院做外科手术。
• All surgical instruments must be sterilised before use.所有的外科手术器械在使用之前，必须消毒。

2 scenarios   

n.[意]情节；剧本；事态；脚本

参考例句：

• Further, graphite cores may be safer than non-graphite cores under some accident scenarios. 再者，根据一些事故解说，石墨堆芯可比非石墨堆芯更安全一些。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法
• Again, scenarios should make it clear which modes are acceptable to users in various contexts. 同样，我们可以运用场景剧本来搞清楚在不同情境下哪些模式可被用户接受。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 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。

4 deployment   

n. 部署,展开

参考例句：

• He has inquired out the deployment of the enemy troops. 他已查出敌军的兵力部署情况。
• Quality function deployment (QFD) is a widely used customer-driven quality, design and manufacturing management tool. 质量功能展开(quality function deployment,QFD)是一个广泛应用的顾客需求驱动的设计、制造和质量管理工具。

5 seasonal   

adj.季节的，季节性的

参考例句：

• The town relies on the seasonal tourist industry for jobs.这个城镇依靠季节性旅游业提供就业机会。
• The hors d'oeuvre is seasonal vegetables.餐前小吃是应时蔬菜。

6 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

7 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。

8 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

9 dominant   

adj.支配的，统治的；占优势的；显性的；n.主因，要素，主要的人(或物)；显性基因

参考例句：

• The British were formerly dominant in India.英国人从前统治印度。
• She was a dominant figure in the French film industry.她在法国电影界是个举足轻重的人物。