VOA标准英语2011--NY Wellness Week Focuses on Prevention

NY Wellness Week Focuses on Prevention

The air was crisp and the music was loud in the vast plaza¹ in front of the New York State office building in Harlem as health advocates and vendors² set up information tables for Harlem Wellness Week.
It is a wide-ranging effort to educate residents about non-communicable diseases - heart disease, cancer, lung disease, diabetes³ and obesity⁴.
Economic impact
There is an economic effect to these diseases, especially in Harlem, one of the city’s poorest districts. Without healthy employees and healthy customers, you cannot have healthy businesses, says Patricia Ricketts of the Greater Harlem Chamber⁵ of Commerce, which sponsors Wellness Week.
“Businesses, their assets leave every day at five o’clock - their primary assets being their employees. And so if their employees are not healthy then they are paying high health-care costs for those employees. They are paying higher costs in the fact that people are just not there to do the work.”
Diet is a risk factor for disease, and sometimes traditional foods are not the most healthful. African American “soul” food for example, is often deep fried. But Ricketts says that one need not choose between one’s culture and one’s health. She encourages restaurants to offer healthy choices on their menus, and to advertise the number of calories in their entrees⁶.
Soul food, she notes, can also be prepared in healthier ways. “So you might substitute a regular fat oil with something like olive oil. It does not change the flavor. In fact it might enhance the flavor a little bit.”
Disadvantages
Dr. Jo Ivy⁷ Boufford, president of the New York Academy of Medicine, a Wellness Week partner, says education about better nutrition is key, but that people with low incomes often lack the means to put what they know into practice.
“When we talk to people in communities, even poor communities, the issue is not that they do not know what they should do, but they do not have fresh foods and vegetables they can afford," says Boufford. "They do not have parks. They do not have safe streets for their kids to play in. And these are the things that have to be changed.”
But there is hope. New York is a trendsetter when it comes to enlightened public-health policy, according to Dr. Carlos Santos-Burgoa, an adviser⁸ to the Pan American Health Organization.
“New York City has taken out smoking in public places either indoors or outdoors. That is a fantastic example that can be done without any impact on the economy," says Santos-Burgoa. "It is a city where you have bike paths. That is something that is a good message for the world because bikes make your transportation active. That is good for your health and lowers air pollution.”
Good timing⁹
Wellness Week is timed to coincide with high-level U.N. meetings about the prevention and control of non-communicable diseases.
Health advocates plan to lobby U.N. officials to pass resolutions that address infrastructure¹⁰ and other underlying¹¹ causes of non-communicable disease. Boufford says it is not enough to focus on the management of disease through hospitalization or medication.
“All those things are important. But in low-income communities or low-income countries, they are going to be making decision about infrastructure. They are going to be deciding do you build mass transit¹², do you create situations where people can walk safely or do you create ring roads and flyovers¹³ and highways with huge amounts of money you have?"
What it comes down to, she says, is do you make decisions with health in mind?

1 plaza   

n.广场，市场

参考例句：

• They designated the new shopping centre York Plaza.他们给这个新购物中心定名为约克购物中心。
• The plaza is teeming with undercover policemen.这个广场上布满了便衣警察。

2 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

3 diabetes   

n.糖尿病

参考例句：

• In case of diabetes, physicians advise against the use of sugar.对于糖尿病患者，医生告诫他们不要吃糖。
• Diabetes is caused by a fault in the insulin production of the body.糖尿病是由体內胰岛素分泌失调引起的。

4 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。

5 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

6 entrees   

n.入场权( entree的名词复数 )；主菜

参考例句：

• Can I also take you order for your entrees now? 现在要不要也点主菜？ 来自互联网
• Before the entrees are served, the waiter first serves four cold dishes. 在正菜上桌之前，服务员先上了四个凉碟。 来自互联网

7 ivy   

n.常青藤，常春藤

参考例句：

• Her wedding bouquet consisted of roses and ivy.她的婚礼花篮包括玫瑰和长春藤。
• The wall is covered all over with ivy.墙上爬满了常春藤。

8 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

9 timing   

n.时间安排，时间选择

参考例句：

• The timing of the meeting is not convenient.会议的时间安排不合适。
• The timing of our statement is very opportune.我们发表声明选择的时机很恰当。

10 infrastructure   

n.下部构造，下部组织，基础结构，基础设施

参考例句：

• We should step up the development of infrastructure for research.加强科学基础设施建设。
• We should strengthen cultural infrastructure and boost various types of popular culture.加强文化基础设施建设，发展各类群众文化。

11 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

12 transit   

n.经过，运输；vt.穿越，旋转；vi.越过

参考例句：

• His luggage was lost in transit.他的行李在运送中丢失。
• The canal can transit a total of 50 ships daily.这条运河每天能通过50条船。

13 flyovers   

n.立交桥，高架公路( flyover的名词复数 )；（单机或编队）低空飞行

参考例句：

• Flyovers have changed the face of the city. 立交桥改变了城市的面貌。 来自辞典例句
• To a limited extent one can compare Beijing to Delhi. Wide roads, flyovers andand formal atmosphere. 在某种程度上，可以把北京与德里做个比较：宽阔的马路、立交桥、城市氛围等。 来自互联网