2020年经济学人 美国黑人的医疗状况不容乐观(1)

United States

美国版块

Lexington

列克星敦

Black America in peril¹

美国黑人危在旦夕

The vulnerability of African-Americans to the coronavirus is a national emergency

非裔美国人易感冠状病毒是全国性的紧急情况。

"THE MOST difficult social problem in the matter of Negro health", wrote the sociologist² W.E.B. Du Bois in 1899, was to understand why so few white Americans were bothered by it. The poor black lives Du Bois described in his pioneering study, "The Philadelphia Negro", were spent "in the most unhealthy parts of the city and in the worst houses", with minimal³ medical attention.They tended to be sickly and short.Yet he could think of "few other cases in the history of civilised peoples where human suffering has been viewed with such peculiar⁴ indifference⁵."

社会学家杜波依斯在1899年写道“针对黑人的健康问题，其最困难的社会问题在于理解为什么几乎没有白人受到这样的困扰。”杜波依斯在他具有先驱性的研究“费城黑人”中描述过黑人的贫困生活，他们生活在“城市中最不健康的地方和最糟糕的房子里”，几乎没有得到过医疗照顾。他们往往体弱多病且身材矮小。然而，他可以想到“在文明民族的历史上，几乎没有出现过其它的案例，即人们能够对人类的苦难如此的漠不关心。”

Modern medicine has since transformed the life expectancy⁶ of all Americans. But many of the disparities Du Bois observed remain.African-Americans are still the country's poorest, pooresthoused and unhealthiest large group, with high incidences of asthma⁷, diabetes⁸, hypertension, cancer and obesity⁹. In 1899 infant mortality was almost twice as high among blacks as among whites; now it is 2.2 times higher. If anything, African-American diets are unhealthier now than the rations¹⁰ of milk, bread and fried pork Du Bois described. So-called "food deserts" are a modern phenomenon.The 160,000 people who live in the District of Columbia's two poorest and overwhelmingly black wards¹¹, 7 and 8, east of the polluted Anacostia river, have only three supermarkets. They also have the sparsest¹² health care in the city, with no major hospital.

现代医学从此已经改变了所有美国人的平均预期寿命。但是杜波依斯观察到的许多分歧仍然存在。非裔美国人仍然是美国最贫穷的，住房最简陋的以及最不健康的大型群体，在这一群体中，哮喘、糖尿病、高血压、癌症和肥胖的发病率很高。在1899年，黑人的婴儿死亡率几乎是白人的两倍；现在是白人的2.2倍。如果有什么区别的话，相较于杜波依斯描述的非裔美国人用牛奶、面包和油炸猪肉作为口粮，他们现在的饮食要更不健康。所谓的“食物荒漠”是一个现代的现象。有16万人住在哥伦比亚特区中最贫穷的黑人街区，街区7和街区8，这两个街区位于受污染的阿纳科斯蒂亚河以东，他们只有三家超市。他们的医疗保障也是全市最低的，没有大医院。

Little wonder blacks have been so stricken by covid-19. The disease kills in tandem¹³ with the ailments¹⁴ they suffer from the most.The latest data suggest one in 2,000 African-Americans has died of it, even though the southern states, where over half live, have been relatively¹⁵ spared. Partly for that reason, black Americans are not unusually likelier to catch the virus. Yet those who do are 2.4 times likelier to die than whites and 2.2 times likelier than Asians and Latinos. In Washington, DC, blacks are less than 47% of the population, but account for 80% of its 445 coronavtrus deaths.

难怪新冠状病毒将黑人打击的这么惨。这场疾病与他们所患最多的疾病同时发生并致死。最新的数据表明在2000个非裔美国人中，就有一人死于该病，即使是在南部各州有一半人存活下来，但他们也并未幸免于难。部分原因是美国黑人通常易感这个病毒。然而，这些人死亡的可能性是白人的2.4倍，是亚洲人和拉丁美洲人的2.2倍。在华盛顿特区，黑人人口少于总人口的47%，但占当地445例冠状病毒死亡案例的80%。

1 peril   

n.(严重的)危险；危险的事物

参考例句：

• The refugees were in peril of death from hunger.难民有饿死的危险。
• The embankment is in great peril.河堤岌岌可危。

2 sociologist   

n.研究社会学的人，社会学家

参考例句：

• His mother was a sociologist,researching socialism.他的母亲是个社会学家，研究社会主义。
• Max Weber is a great and outstanding sociologist.马克斯·韦伯是一位伟大的、杰出的社会学家。

3 minimal   

adj.尽可能少的，最小的

参考例句：

• They referred to this kind of art as minimal art.他们把这种艺术叫微型艺术。
• I stayed with friends, so my expenses were minimal.我住在朋友家，所以我的花费很小。

4 peculiar   

adj.古怪的，异常的；特殊的，特有的

参考例句：

• He walks in a peculiar fashion.他走路的样子很奇特。
• He looked at me with a very peculiar expression.他用一种很奇怪的表情看着我。

5 indifference   

n.不感兴趣，不关心，冷淡，不在乎

参考例句：

• I was disappointed by his indifference more than somewhat.他的漠不关心使我很失望。
• He feigned indifference to criticism of his work.他假装毫不在意别人批评他的作品。

6 expectancy   

n.期望，预期，（根据概率统计求得）预期数额

参考例句：

• Japanese people have a very high life expectancy.日本人的平均寿命非常长。
• The atomosphere of tense expectancy sobered everyone.这种期望的紧张气氛使每个人变得严肃起来。

7 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

8 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。

9 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。

10 rations   

定量( ration的名词复数 )； 配给量； 正常量； 合理的量

参考例句：

• They are provisioned with seven days' rations. 他们得到了7天的给养。
• The soldiers complained that they were getting short rations. 士兵们抱怨他们得到的配给不够数。

11 wards   

区( ward的名词复数 )； 病房； 受监护的未成年者； 被人照顾或控制的状态

参考例句：

• This hospital has 20 medical [surgical] wards. 这所医院有 20 个内科[外科]病房。
• It was a big constituency divided into three wards. 这是一个大选区，下设三个分区。

12 sparsest   

adj.稀疏的，稀少的( sparse的最高级 )

参考例句：

13 tandem   

n.同时发生；配合；adv.一个跟着一个地；纵排地；adj.（两匹马）前后纵列的

参考例句：

• Malcolm's contract will run in tandem with his existing one.马尔科姆的合同将与他手头的合同同时生效。
• He is working in tandem with officials of the Serious Fraud Office.他正配合欺诈重案办公室的官员工作。

14 ailments   

疾病（尤指慢性病），不适( ailment的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His ailments include a mild heart attack and arthritis. 他患有轻度心脏病和关节炎。
• He hospitalizes patients for minor ailments. 他把只有小病的患者也送进医院。

15 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。