VOA标准英语2011--Mobilizing to End Child Hunger

Mobilizing to End Child Hunger

Ending child hunger is the goal of a meeting here in Washington Monday. Government officials, nutrition and health experts and members of civil society from around the world are promoting the 1,000 Days Partnership¹. The goal is to save the lives of millions of children.
"The 1,000 Days Partnership is really a call to action to address this issue. It was launched in September 2010 by Secretary Clinton to really focus international attention on the 1,000 days, which is really the window of opportunity from the time a woman gets pregnant to the time a child is age two," said U.S. Under Secretary of State Maria Otero.
We know what to do
The science and know-how² exist, she said, to end child hunger. Otero added when children go hungry the effects are widespread and long-lasting.
"The figures are really quite striking. Globally, we know that about 200 million suffer from chronic³ undernutrition. And every year we see that undernutrition can cost up to three and a half million child deaths. This reality is unacceptable," she said.
What's more, she said that when children are undernourished before age two, they are more likely to have long-term health problems. They're also more likely to do poorly in school and have lower economic prospects⁴ as adults.
Among those supporting the partnership is World Food Prize laureate and Bread for the World President Rev⁵. David Beckmann.
He said, "It's about new hope for reducing child malnutrition⁶ in the world. World hunger has increased over the last several years, mainly because of high prices for grains. Government budgets are tight. But I think providentially, the world also has new knowledge about the best ways, the most impactful ways to reduce child malnutrition. And some of the world's leaders are in fact leading a one thousand day campaign to get these new ideas put into practice in the countries where malnutrition is concentrated."
G8 promise
Paul Weisenfeld of USAID, the U.S. development agency, said world leaders pledged at the L'Aquila summit to ensure food security.
In 2009, at the G8 summit, the international community made a really important commitment to increase the focus on food security. It was intended to reverse a decades-long decline in assistance for agricultural development. And the idea behind this was also at the same time to accelerate global momentum⁷ linking nutrition and agriculture in a way that we've never done before," he said.
U.S. officials call the 1,000 Days Partnership the defining link between the Feed the Future and Global Health presidential Initiatives.

1 partnership   

n.合作关系，伙伴关系

参考例句：

• The company has gone into partnership with Swiss Bank Corporation.这家公司已经和瑞士银行公司建立合作关系。
• Martin has taken him into general partnership in his company.马丁已让他成为公司的普通合伙人。

2 know-how   

n.知识；技术；诀窍

参考例句：

• He hasn't got the know-how to run a farm.他没有经营农场的专业知识。
• I don't have much know-how about engines.发动机方面的技术知识我知之甚少。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 prospects   

n.希望，前途(恒为复数)

参考例句：

• There is a mood of pessimism in the company about future job prospects. 公司中有一种对工作前景悲观的情绪。
• They are less sanguine about the company's long-term prospects. 他们对公司的远景不那么乐观。

5 rev   

v.发动机旋转，加快速度

参考例句：

• It's his job to rev up the audience before the show starts.他要负责在表演开始前鼓动观众的热情。
• Don't rev the engine so hard.别让发动机转得太快。

6 malnutrition   

n.营养不良

参考例句：

• In Africa, there are a lot of children suffering from severe malnutrition.在非洲有大批严重营养不良的孩子。
• It is a classic case of malnutrition. 这是营养不良的典型病例。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。