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Unit 5
Section A
Pre-reading Activities
First Listening
Having ideas about an essay before you read it is an important reading skill. Please listen to a short piece of recording about AIDS.
Second Listening
Listen to the tape again. Then answer the following questions to the best of your ability.
1. What is the name of the disease that appeared more than 20 years ago?
2. What war does this passage describe?
3. What must each of us learn to do?
The Battle Against AIDS
Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome (AIDS) was diagnosed in the United States in the late 1970s. Since then, AIDS has killed more than 204,000 Americans — half in the past few years alone. Another 185,000 of the one million infected with the HIV virus are also expected to die.
Nearly half of those diagnosed with the virus are blacks and Latinos. Women and youth in rural Southern communities now constitute the fastest growing segment of people with AIDS.
Despite such alarming numbers, the federal and state governments have been slow in implementing programs to stop the spread of AIDS. In place of government inactivity, a number of local organizations have emerged.
One organization, the South Carolina AIDS Education Network, formed in 1985 to combat the growing number of AIDS cases. Like many local organizations, this organization suffers from a lack of money, forcing it to use its resources creatively. To reach more people in the community, some AIDS educational programs operate out of a beauty shop.
The owner hands out AIDS information to all her clients when they enter the shop and shows videos on AIDS prevention while they wait for their hair to dry. She also keeps books and other publications around so customers can read them while waiting for their appointments. It's amazing how many people she has educated on the job.
Recently, the network began helping hair stylists throughout the Southeast set up similar programs in their shops. They are also valuable resources in spreading information to their schools, community groups, and churches.
The organization has developed several techniques useful to other groups doing similar work. While no one way of winning the war against AIDS exists, the network shares these lessons learned in its battle against AIDS:
Speak to your community in a way they can hear. Many communities have a low literacy rate, making impossible passing out AIDS literature and expecting people to read it. To solve this problem, ask people in the community who can draw well to create low-literacy AIDS education publications.
These books use simple, hand-drawn pictures of "sad faces" and "happy faces" to illustrate ways people can prevent AIDS. They also show people who look like those we need to educate, since people can relate more when they see familiar faces and language they can understand. As a result, such books actually have more effect in the communities where they are used than government publications, which cost thousands of dollars more to produce.
Train teenagers to educate their peers. Because AIDS is spreading fastest among teenagers in the rural South, the stylists have established an "AIDS Busters" program which trains youth from 8 to 26 to go into the community and teach "AIDS 101" to their peers. They make it simple and explain the risk of catching AIDS to friends their own age much better than an adult can. They also play a vital role in helping parents understand the types of peer pressure their children experience.
Redefine "at risk" to include women from different backgrounds and marriage status. One woman's doctor told her she was not at risk for AIDS because she was married and didn't use drugs. Such misinformation plagues the medical establishment. According to the Centers for Disease Control, women will soon make up 80 percent of those diagnosed with HIV.
The stylists also emphasize that everyone is at risk and that all of us have a right to protect ourselves — regardless of marriage status.
These lessons are not the only solutions to the crisis but until there is a cure for AIDS, education represents the only safe measure to guard against the virus.
Like no other plague before, the AIDS epidemic threatens to wipe out an entire generation and leave another without parents. We must not let cultural, racial, or social barriers distract us from the job that must be done. Nor can we let political inefficiency stop us from our task. This is an undeclared war that everyone must sign up for in order for us to win. We simply cannot let people continue to die because we don't feel comfortable talking about AIDS. Everyone must become an educator and learn to live.
Words: 700
NEW WORDS
acquire
vt. get by one's own work, skill, etc. 获得；学到
▲immune
a. 1. unable to be diseased or hurt because of special powers in oneself 免疫的
2. protected from 免除的
▲deficiency
n. the state of having none or not enough of 不足，缺乏；缺点，缺陷
◆syndrome
n. a set of qualities, happenings, methods, etc., common to a general condition （具有共性的性质，事件，症状等的）集合
▲diagnose
vt. discover the nature of (a disease) 诊断；判断
infect
vt. 1. put disease into the body of (someone) 感染
2. affect; influence 影响
virus
n. a living thing which can cause a spreading disease in the body, or in plants 病毒
rural
a. of or like the countryside 农村的
constitute
vt. make up; form 组成
segment
n. any of the parts into which something may be divided 部分
alarm
n. sudden fear and worry; a warning of danger 惊慌；警报
vt. cause sudden fear or worry; 使惊恐，使担心
federal
a. 联邦的，联邦制的
implement
vt. carry out or put into practice 实施，执行
organization (英organisation)
n. 1. a group of people with a special purpose 组织
2. the adjusting or planning of parts so as to form an effective whole 组织，安排
emerge
vi. come or appear 出现
network
n. a large set of lines, wires, etc., that cross or meet one another 网络
combat
vt. fight or struggle against 斗争
n. a fight or battle 斗争
resource
n. (usu. pl.) a possession (esp. of a country) in the form of wealth or goods 资源
creative
a. producing new and fresh ideas and things 创造性的；有创造力的
creatively
ad. 创造性地；有创造力地
client
n. 1. a person who pays a business person, esp. a lawyer for help and advice 当事人
2. a customer 顾客
video
n. 录像，录像机
publication
n. 1.[U] the act of making sth. known to the public; the offering of sth. printed for sale 公布，发表；出版，发行
2.[C] sth. printed 出版物
educate
v. teach; train the nature of 教育
educational
a. of education 教育的
educator
n. a person who educates 教育工作者；教育家
recently
ad. not long ago 最近
southeast
n. the point that is halfway between south and east 东南
▲literacy
n. the state of being able to read and/or write 文化；识字
low-literacy
n. 低文化水平
literature
n. 1. written works which are of artistic value 文学
2. printed material giving information 资料
solve
vt. find an answer to or a way of dealing with 解决，解答
solution
n. (to) an answer to a problem 解决，解答
create
vt. cause sth. to happen or exist 创造
illustrate
vt. show the meaning of (sth.) by giving related pictures or examples 说明
relate
vt. 1. tell (a story) 讲述
2. see or show a joining between 将……联系起来
establish
vt. set up (esp. a school, an organization, etc.) 建立，创办
establishment
n. 1. a business or an organization 机构，企业
2. the act of setting up 建立，确立；确定
■buster
n. sth. or sb. that fights or triumphs over the actual wrong or negative activity 克星
risk
n. a danger 危险，风险
vt. place in danger; take the chance of losing 冒着……的危险
adult
n. a fully grown person or animal 成年（人或动物）
pressure
n. the conditions of work, a way of living, etc. which cause worry, stress and difficulty 压力
define
vt. give the meaning of; describe exactly 下定义；描述
redefine
vt. consider sth. in a new way 重新说明
background
n. a person's family, experience, and education 出身背景，经历；背景资料
▲plague
vt. annoy by repeated action 缠绕，烦扰
n. 瘟疫，鼠疫；灾难，祸患
emphasize (英emphasise)
vt. lay stress on 强调
regardless
a. whatever may happen; (of) not influenced by 无论如何
crisis
n. moment of great danger or difficulty 危机
represent
vt. 1. show; be a sign of; stand for 表示，表明
2. act or speak officially for(another person or people) 作为……的代表（或代理）
▲epidemic
n. a widely or rapidly spreading disease; the spread of a disease that infects others 流行病；传染病的蔓延
threaten
v. express or be a warning that one is going to hurt, punish , etc. 扬言；威胁
racial
a. connected with race 种族的
efficiency
n. the quality of being able to do a task successfully, without wasting time or energy 效率
inefficiency
n. the quality of being unable to do a task successfully 效率低下，无效
PHRASES AND EXPRESSIONS
be infected with
have or carry (a disease) 感染（疾病）
in place of
instead of 代替
suffer from
experience (sth. unpleasant, e.g. an illness) 受……之苦，患（某种疾病）
pass out
1. give to each person in a group 分发
2. faint 晕倒
as a result
therefore 因此，结果
at risk
in danger 有危险，有风险
regardless of
not influenced by 不顾，不管
the solution to
the answer to ……的解答；解决（解答）……的办法
threaten to do sth.
give warning that one may hurt or punish 扬言要……
distract ... from
take one's attention from 使分心
sign up(for sth.)
(cause to) sign an agreement to take part in sth. 报名参加；签约参加工作（或组织）
PROPER NAMES
AIDS
医］Acquired Immune Deficiency Syndrome 艾滋病／爱滋病
HIV
医］Human Immunodeficiency Virus 艾滋病病毒，人体免疫缺损病毒
Latino
(pl. Latinos)拉丁美洲人
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