VOA常速英语2020--南非出租小巴成为新冠病毒温床

The humble¹ minibus taxi is a lifeline for more than 70 percent of south Africa's workforce². But health experts worry this system is a breeding ground for coronavirus, because of riders' close quarters and the high volume of passengers. A new South African non-profit initiative led by a businessman, who was also the eldest³ son of president Cyril Ramaphosa, is trying to address this gap. When we insisted as business and as south Africans, let's open this economy by not dealing⁴ with the commute⁵, we basically undid⁶ what was happening with lockdown. So if you deal with the transport sector⁷, because covid is a virus that moves through the transport sector. If you deal with that effectively, you could actually put in an artificial lockdown. HIV researcher Dr. Jenny Pfeiffer Coetzee, founder⁸ and director of the African Potential Foundation, says her team has come up with several solutions, ranging from simple to complex.

对于南非超过70%的劳动力而言，这种不起眼的出租小巴是他们的生计来源。但卫生专家担心，由于乘客距离较近，乘客量大，出租小巴系统会成为冠状病毒的温床。一位南非商人新成立的非营利组织正试图解决这一问题，这位商人同时也是总统西里尔·拉马福萨的长子。当我们坚持作为商人和南非人，妄图开放经济，却不处理通勤问题的时候，我们进行封锁所做的一切努力就算是白费了。所以如果你着手处理运输部门，因为新冠病毒可以通过公共交通运输传播。如果你能有效地处理这个问题，实际上可以进行人为封锁。HIV研究者珍妮·菲弗·库切博士博士是非洲潜力基金会的创始人和负责人，她说她的团队已经提出了几种从简单到复杂的解决方案。

What we're looking at is a system very similar to what's being used in ambulances, and that is to adapt a UVC air filter that allows the airflow to be encouraged within the taxi, using various fans within the filter. And air passes through the filter, where it's then irradiated within a matter of seconds, and is then transferred back out into the taxi to be circulated out of the taxi. Her team is also considering an alarm system, that alerts passengers to open the windows to allow fresh air to circulate. At sanitizing stations that passengers can use to clean their hands before boarding, and at a divider between the driver and passenger. "That last intervention," says Ramaphosas business partner Brad Fisher,"is especially crucial." He says the government's efforts- sanitizing taxis- only work up to a point. But you can spray this rank to death once you get into the taxi, where there's a closed environment, it’s a capsule. With whatever it is, whether it's filled with ten people's epidemic⁹, that driver gets sick statistically¹⁰. The driver has seen two thousand people a month ago, he's gonna get sick. "These measures," say Ramaphosa's team,"could decrease the risk of infection by up to 80 percent." So far, SDI has fitted out 5,000 school transport taxis and 1,000 commuter¹¹ taxis. At an estimated cost of about 340,000 dollars, which works out to about 60 dollars per vehicle, much of it provided by donors¹². It's been quite a journey of discovery for us non-scientists to bring all these people together, with one thing in mind, we need our people to get to work safely and we need to save lives. Pfeiffer Cutsia says the team is also looking at how to scale the model to fit other African countries, which use similar transport systems to move millions of people each day. 

我们现在研究的系统与救护车上使用的系统非常相似，这个系统是由UVC空气过滤器改造而成，通过在过滤器中使用各种风扇，允许气流在出租车内串通。空气通过过滤器后会在几秒内进行辐射杀菌处理，然后处理过的空气会被输送回出租车内部，再循环出出租车。她的团队也在考虑研发一个警报系统，提醒乘客打开窗户，让新鲜空气流通。在乘客上车前，可以在消毒站以及司机和乘客之间的隔板处清洁双手。拉马福萨的商业伙伴布拉德·费舍尔说，“最后一道关口的介入尤为关键。”他说，政府对出租车进行消毒的努力只起到了一定的作用。 一旦你上了出租车，被感染的风险就会急剧上升，因为那是个封闭的环境，是密封车厢。不管是什么，车厢内是否坐满十名乘客，且乘客中有感染病例，统计显示司机都会很容易被感染。如果那个司机一个月前见过两千个人，他就会感染新冠病毒。拉马福萨的团队表示，“这些措施可以将感染风险降低80%。”到目前为止，SDI已为五千辆学校交通的士和一千辆通勤的士安装了设备。估计费用约为34万美元，相当于每辆车约60美元，其中大部分由捐助者提供。对于我们这些非科学家来说，把所有这些人聚集在一起就像是一个相当漫长的发现之旅。我们要铭记在心，我们需要所有人安全地工作，我们需要拯救生命。菲弗·卡齐亚说，研究小组还正在研究如何将这种模式扩展到其他非洲国家，这些国家使用类似的交通系统每天运送数百万人。

Anita Powell voa news Johannesburg

美国之音，记者安妮塔·鲍威尔，约翰内斯堡报道。

1 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

2 workforce   

n.劳动大军，劳动力

参考例句：

• A large part of the workforce is employed in agriculture.劳动人口中一大部分受雇于农业。
• A quarter of the local workforce is unemployed.本地劳动力中有四分之一失业。

3 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 commute   

vi.乘车上下班；vt.减(刑)；折合；n.上下班交通

参考例句：

• I spend much less time on my commute to work now.我现在工作的往返时间要节省好多。
• Most office workers commute from the suburbs.很多公司的职员都是从郊外来上班的。

6 Undid   

v. 解开, 复原

参考例句：

• The officer undid the flap of his holster and drew his gun. 军官打开枪套盖拔出了手枪。
• He did wrong, and in the end his wrongs undid him. 行恶者终以其恶毁其身。

7 sector   

n.部门，部分；防御地段，防区；扇形

参考例句：

• The export sector will aid the economic recovery. 出口产业将促进经济复苏。
• The enemy have attacked the British sector.敌人已进攻英国防区。

8 Founder   

n.创始者，缔造者

参考例句：

• He was extolled as the founder of their Florentine school.他被称颂为佛罗伦萨画派的鼻祖。
• According to the old tradition,Romulus was the founder of Rome.按照古老的传说，罗穆卢斯是古罗马的建国者。

9 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

10 statistically   

ad.根据统计数据来看，从统计学的观点来看

参考例句：

• The sample of building permits is larger and therefore, statistically satisfying. 建筑许可数的样本比较大，所以统计数据更令人满意。
• The results of each test would have to be statistically independent. 每次试验的结果在统计上必须是独立的。

11 commuter   

n.(尤指市郊之间)乘公交车辆上下班者

参考例句：

• Police cordoned off the road and diverted commuter traffic. 警察封锁了道路并分流交通。
• She accidentally stepped on his foot on a crowded commuter train. 她在拥挤的通勤列车上不小心踩到了他的脚。

12 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》