School Meal Kills 21 in India

　　At least 21 children in India have died after eating a tainted¹ school meal.

 

　　The poisoning happened at a government school in India's eastern state of Bihar.

 

　　Over 50-children below the age of 12 fell sick and are now being hospitalized.

 

　　It is suspected that either insecticide or contaminated vegetable oil could be the cause of the poisoning.

 

　　A probe has now been launched.

 

　　Each family of the dead has been offered over 3-thousand US dollars in compensation.

 

　　India's Education Minister, M. M. Pallam Raju.

 

　　"We have taken a serious note of what has happened and our additional secretary who looks after the midday meal programme is already in Bihar and he will gather information first hand."

 

　　The free food is provided to the children under a federal government scheme aimed at boosting school enrollments for poor children and providing them with a nutritious² diet.

 

　　The Mid-Day Meal Scheme is the world's largest school feeding scheme covering over 12 million children across India.

 

　　But critics of the school meal scheme complain about poor hygiene³ and rampant⁴ corruption⁵ for the poisonous outbreaks.

1 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 nutritious   

adj.有营养的，营养价值高的

参考例句：

• Fresh vegetables are very nutritious.新鲜蔬菜富于营养。
• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。

3 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

4 rampant   

adj.(植物)蔓生的；狂暴的，无约束的

参考例句：

• Sickness was rampant in the area.该地区疾病蔓延。
• You cannot allow children to rampant through the museum.你不能任由小孩子在博物馆里乱跑。

5 corruption   

n.腐败，堕落，贪污

参考例句：

• The people asked the government to hit out against corruption and theft.人民要求政府严惩贪污盗窃。
• The old man reviled against corruption.那老人痛斥了贪污舞弊。