VOA常速英语2021--新冠逝者超50万,美国降半旗哀悼

This is VOA news. Via remote, I'm Marissa Melton. U.S. President Joe Biden and Vice¹ President Kamala Harris have marked the United States 500,000 death from COVID-19 with a candle light vigil and a moment of silence. The United States passed the landmark² on Monday. Biden ordered all U.S. flags to be flown at half staff for the rest of the week and he made remarks Monday at the White House. He said, "As we acknowledge the scale of this mass death in America, we remember each person and the life that they have lived." Just before their inauguration³ last month, Biden and Harris held a vigil for coronavirus victims at the Lincoln Memorial as the United States total eclipsed past 400,000 victims. The death toll⁴ rose by 100,000 in the past month alone.

欢迎收听美国之音新闻。我是玛丽莎·梅顿，为你远程报道。为纪念美国的50万新冠逝者，美国总统乔·拜登和副总统卡马拉·哈里斯举行了烛光守夜和默哀活动。美国星期一达到了这一里程碑。星期一在白宫，拜登下令所有美国国旗在本周剩余的时间里都要降下半旗，并发表了讲话。他表示：“当我们承认美国存在大规模死亡的同时，我们记住了每个人和他们的一生。”就在上个月就职典礼之前，拜登和哈里斯在林肯纪念堂为冠状病毒的受害者守夜，美国当时已有超过40万名受害者。仅在过去一个月，死亡人数就增加了10万。

World Health Organization chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus on Monday said some of the world's wealthiest nations are hampering⁵ efforts by his agency and its partners to get vaccines⁶ to the world's poorest nations. Tedros took part in a joint⁸ virtual news conference, along with German President Frank-Walter Steinmeier, to talk about the WHO- facilitated international vaccination⁹ initiative COVAX, designed to obtain and equitably¹⁰ distribute COVID-19 vaccines throughout the world. Speaking from WHO headquarters in Geneva, Tedros said some high-income countries are entering into contracts with vaccine⁷ manufacturers that undermine the deals that COVAX has with those same companies. He said the deals reduce the number of doses COVAX can buy. He did not name the high-income countries he mentioned. Tedros said it is in the interest of all countries, including the high-income ones, to ensure that health workers, older people and other at-risk groups are first in line for vaccines. From Washington, you're listening to VOA news.

世界卫生组织负责人泰德罗·阿达诺姆·盖布雷耶苏斯周一表示，世界上一些最富裕国家正在阻碍世卫及其合作伙伴为世界上最贫穷国家提供疫苗的努力。泰德罗与德国总统施泰因迈尔共同参加了一场线上联合新闻发布会，讨论了世卫组织推动的国际疫苗接种倡议COVAX，该倡议旨在获得新冠疫苗并在全世界公平分发。泰德罗在日内瓦世卫组织总部表示，一些高收入国家正在与疫苗制造商签订合同，这破坏了COVAX倡议与这些公司达成的交易。他表示，富裕国家的交易致使COVAX能够购买到的疫苗剂量减少。他并没有说出他提到的那些高收入国家的名字。泰德罗表示，确保卫生工作者、老年人和其他高危人群优先接种疫苗符合包括高收入国家在内的所有国家的利益。欢迎收听美国之音新闻，华盛顿报道。

1 vice   

n.坏事；恶习；[pl.]台钳，老虎钳；adj.副的

参考例句：

• He guarded himself against vice.他避免染上坏习惯。
• They are sunk in the depth of vice.他们堕入了罪恶的深渊。

2 landmark   

n.陆标，划时代的事，地界标

参考例句：

• The Russian Revolution represents a landmark in world history.俄国革命是世界历史上的一个里程碑。
• The tower was once a landmark for ships.这座塔曾是船只的陆标。

3 inauguration   

n.开幕、就职典礼

参考例句：

• The inauguration of a President of the United States takes place on January 20.美国总统的就职典礼于一月二十日举行。
• Three celebrated tenors sang at the president's inauguration.3位著名的男高音歌手在总统就职仪式上演唱。

4 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

5 hampering   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• So fraud on cows and development aid is seriously hampering growth. 因此在牛问题上和发展补助上的诈骗严重阻碍了发展。
• Short-termism, carbon-trading, disputing the science-are hampering the implementation of direct economically-led objectives. 短效主义，出售二氧化碳，进行科学辩论，这些都不利于实现以经济为主导的直接目标。

6 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

9 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。

10 equitably   

公平地

参考例句：

• We should equitably assess historical figures. 我们应该公正地评价历史人物。
• Land was more equitably distributed. 土地得到更公平合理的分配。