英语听力—环球英语 848 The Miracle Cure for Hunger

　　Voice 1
Welcome to Spotlight¹ I’m Robin² Basselin.
Voice 2
And I’m Liz Waid. Spotlight uses a special English method of broadcasting. It is easier for people to understand, no matter where in the world they live.
Voice 3
“What if food experts developed a miracle³ cure for childhood hunger? What if they developed a protein rich substance that does not require continued cool storage? A food that is free. A food that anyone could get - even people in far away towns like this one in Niger. Babies often die here because they are hungry. Is this miracle cure even possible?”
Voice 1
This is what Nicholas Kristof recently wrote in a story for the New York Times newspaper. He asked this question. And then he answered it. He wrote: Voice 3 “This miracle cure already exists. It is breast milk.”
Voice 2
Today’s Spotlight is on one way to improve health all around the world. Many food and development experts believe that breastfeeding can reduce child hunger. It can also improve the lives of mothers and babies.
Voice 1
Undernutrition, or hunger, is a worldwide problem. The organization World Hunger estimates⁴ that in 2010, there were 925 million hungry people in the world. They were not able to get the food they needed. That is almost one in every seven people in the world! Most of these undernourished people live in developing countries.
Voice 2
The organization World Hunger says that children suffer the most from undernutrition. Many are sick for a long time. And if a child is suffering from a disease⁵, hunger makes it worse. Hunger is responsible for about 5 million child deaths every year.
Voice 1
And many of these children were undernourished before they were born! That is because many pregnant⁶ women suffer from hunger too. A pregnant woman who is undernourished will have a baby with a low birth weight. Low birth-weight babies are usually unhealthy. And they may suffer many long-term problems like learning⁷ problems, blindness, poor health, and even death.
Voice 2
There are many things people must do to end world hunger. The problem may seem so large that people may not know where to begin to solve it. But many experts, and people like writer Nicholas Kristof, believe there is one simple thing that could improve lives immediately. That is breastfeeding. When a woman feeds a baby from her breasts, she is breastfeeding.
Voice 1
The World Health Organization, the WHO, says that a woman should breastfeed her baby. They say the baby should begin breastfeeding as soon as possible - the goal is within a half hour of birth. Then, the baby should only eat breast milk until it is six months old. They say the baby should be able to breastfeed “on demand” - that is, whenever he wants to eat. When he is six months old, he should also get good foods that are high in vitamins and other good substances. But, he should be able to breastfeed until he is at least two years old.
Voice 2
Many mothers begin to breastfeed their babies. But, there are some barriers that prevent them from following the WHO’s suggestions. First, many people may not know what to do - they do not have enough information about breastfeeding. Breastfeeding can be difficult for a mother. Sometimes it can be painful at the beginning. A baby may not be taking milk from the breast in the correct way. Or a mother may not have any help in breastfeeding. She may not have the support of an expert or the people around her.
Voice 1
Second, there are there are many wrong beliefs about what is healthy for a baby. Many people do not know how important a mother’s first milk - colostrum – is. Immediately after a baby is born the mother’s body begins producing colostrum. This is a thick yellow liquid. Some people believe this milk is not good. So, they feed the new baby with water or animal milk until the mother’s milk appears. But colostrum is filled with many good substances for the baby. Also, if a mother waits to start breastfeeding until her colostrum has passed, she may have more trouble getting her baby to breastfeed.
Voice 2
Another wrong belief is that breast milk is not enough food for a baby. This is one belief Nicholas Kristof has seen. He writes about human rights and poverty around the world. In June 2011, Kristof travelled through southern Niger. There, he met a young mother named Gayshita Abdullah. She told Kristof that on a hot day breast milk is not enough for a baby. He needs water too. She said if she cannot find water from a well she gets it from water collected on the ground.
Voice 1
But food experts say that babies do not need water. In fact, giving babies dirty water is extremely dangerous. This water can give babies diseases⁸. It can make them sick with diarrhoea. The WHO says that diarrhoea and pneumonia⁹ are the most common causes of child death around the world. But breastfeeding can protect babies from these dangerous sicknesses. That is because breastmilk contains antibodies. These small helpful organisms¹⁰ travel from the mother to the baby through her milk. The WHO says that antibodies protect babies from common sicknesses like diarrhoea and pneumonia.
Voice 2
These are just a few of the good results of breastfeeding. But the WHO says that these good results also continue as a child grows. They say that adults who were breastfed as babies are often healthier than those who were not.
Voice 1
So could breastfeeding be the miracle cure for child hunger? Could this simple solution save millions of lives? As he travelled, Kristof also talked to Shawn Baker¹¹. Baker works¹² with Helen Keller International. This organization works around the world to prevent blindness and reduce undernutrition.
Voice 2
Many organizations around the world, including Helen Keller International, work to encourage mothers to breastfeed. They give information about the good results of breastfeeding to health workers. These health workers can then give information and support to new mothers and their whole communities.
Voice 1
Baker believes that people may just think that breastfeeding is too simple a solution. He says people are looking for more exciting technological¹³ ways to improve the world’s hunger situation. He says:
Voice 4
“We have crushing¹⁴ evidence of breastfeeding’s effectiveness in reducing child deaths. It is the oldest food solution that people know. And everybody can get it. But the development community is concentrating too much on technological fixes. Breastfeeding has not gained the importance it should have.”
Voice 2
Breastfeeding cannot fix the whole world’s hunger problem. But, it can and should be one of the things people can do for babies. It is a first step toward¹⁵ fighting world hunger.
 

1 spotlight   

n.公众注意的中心，聚光灯，探照灯，视听，注意，醒目

参考例句：

• This week the spotlight is on the world of fashion.本周引人瞩目的是时装界。
• The spotlight followed her round the stage.聚光灯的光圈随着她在舞台上转。

2 robin   

n.知更鸟，红襟鸟

参考例句：

• The robin is the messenger of spring.知更鸟是报春的使者。
• We knew spring was coming as we had seen a robin.我们看见了一只知更鸟，知道春天要到了。

3 miracle   

n.奇迹，令人惊奇的人或事

参考例句：

• The doctors said that his recovery was a miracle. 医生们说他的复原是件奇事。
• It is simply a miracle that rice should grow in such a place.稻子竟能在这样的地方生长，这实在是个奇迹。

4 estimates   

估计

参考例句：

• Unofficial estimates put the figure at over two million. 非官方的估计数字为200万以上。
• We got estimates from three different contractors before accepting the lowest. 我们得到3个承包商的报价后，接受了最低的报价。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

6 pregnant   

adj.怀孕的，怀胎的

参考例句：

• She is a pregnant woman.她是一名孕妇。
• She is pregnant with her first child.她怀了第一胎。

7 learning   

n.学问，学识，学习；动词learn的现在分词

参考例句：

• When you are learning to ride a bicycle,you often fall off.初学骑自行车时，常会从车上掉下来。
• Learning languages isn't just a matter of remembering words.学习语言不仅仅是记些单词的事。

8 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

9 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

10 organisms   

n.有机物( organism的名词复数 )；有机体；生物；有机体系

参考例句：

• The organisms can be divided into discrete categories. 有机体可分为许多互不相联的种类。
• The cell is the unit of which all living organisms are composed. 细胞是构成一切生物的单位。

11 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

12 works   

n.作品，著作；工厂，活动部件，机件

参考例句：

• We expect writers to produce more and better works.我们期望作家们写出更多更好的作品。
• The novel is regarded as one of the classic works.这篇小说被公认为是最优秀的作品之一。

13 technological   

adj.技术的；工艺的

参考例句：

• A successful company must keep up with the pace of technological change.一家成功的公司必须得跟上技术变革的步伐。
• Today,the pace of life is increasing with technological advancements.当今， 随着科技进步，生活节奏不断增快。

14 crushing   

adj. 打破得支离破碎的, 使不能在站起来, 压倒的 v. 动词crush的现在分词形式

参考例句：

• a crushing defeat in the election 在选举中的惨败
• The attack on Pearl Harbor was a crushing calamity. 偷袭珍珠港（对美军来说）是一场毁灭性的灾难。

15 toward   

prep.对于，关于，接近，将近，向，朝

参考例句：

• Suddenly I saw a tall figure approaching toward the policeman.突然间我看到一个高大的身影朝警察靠近。
• Upon seeing her,I smiled and ran toward her. 看到她我笑了，并跑了过去。