VOA慢速英语20061225a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

Right now, the top story in AIDS research involves newly¹ announced findings² about adult male circumcision. Two studies in Africa found that circumcised men had half the risk of getting H.I.V. from sex with women as uncircumcised men had.

Researchers declared an early end to the studies in Kenya and Uganda so all the men involved could be offered the operation.


A drop of microbicide gel

The findings are important. But so is news of progress on microbicides that could help protect women against the AIDS virus.

The Global Campaign for Microbicides says more than sixty products or compounds³ are under development. Several have reached the last part of the testing process or will enter final testing soon. At this time, no effective microbicides are available.

Women would use a microbicide cream or gel before sex. It might be designed, for example, to kill or inactivate⁴ the virus, or to create a physical barrier to guard the cell wall in the body.

The Population Council⁵, a nonprofit group in New York, has been working for seventeen years to develop a microbicide. Its leading candidate⁶ is a product called Carraguard. Carraguard is made from carrageenan -- the underwater plant material better known as seaweed.

Final testing of Carraguard for safety and effectiveness is taking place in South Africa. The product is being tested in more than six thousand women for up to two years. The study closes in March. Results are expected within a year after that.

If Carraguard passes the tests, the Population Council is expected to seek approval⁷ for it in South Africa and the United States.

The group notes that the first microbicides are expected to be effective forty to seventy percent of the time. Still, many cases of H.I.V. could be prevented.

In some cases, nonprofit groups have been developing microbicides with compounds produced by major drug companies.

AIDS experts say microbicides could give women more control over their bodies. Women often lack the power to demand that their partner use a condom.

Worldwide, almost half of adults with H.I.V. and AIDS are women. But the United Nations says women are victims of sixty percent of new infections. It estimates⁸ that more than four million people have become infected with the virus this year and three million people have died.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss⁹. You can learn more about H.I.V. and AIDS at www.unsv.com. I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 newly   

adv.新近，最近；重新，再度；以新的方式

参考例句：

• Have you reviewed for this newly published novel?你给这本新出版的小说写书评了吗？
• It is a newly planted tree and it has not established yet.这是一颗新栽的树，还没有扎下根来。

2 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

3 compounds   

n.场地( compound的名词复数 )；复合物；（筑有围墙的）院子；复合词v.调和( compound的第三人称单数 )；使混合；使严重；调停

参考例句：

• Nouns join to form compounds. 名词和名词结合构成复合词。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• That simply compounds the offence. 那只会加重罪过。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 inactivate   

v.使…不活跃

参考例句：

• We put bacteria in an environment at low temperature to inactivate them.我们将细菌置於低温的环境中使之失去活性。
• Food processing destroys some nutrients,but can also inactivate toxins and increase the availability of other nutrients.食物加工破坏一些营养物质，但也可以灭活毒素，并增加其他营养物质的可用性。

5 council   

n.理事会，委员会，议事机构

参考例句：

• The town council passed a law forbidding the distribution of handbills.市议会通过法律，禁止散发传单。
• The city council has declared for improving the public bus system.市议会宣布同意改进公共汽车系统。

6 candidate   

n.候选人；候补者；投考者，申请求职者

参考例句：

• Voters like a candidate who has the common touch. 投票者喜欢那些平易近人的候选人。
• The local newspapers dressed up the candidate as a boxer.当地报纸把那个候选人描绘成一个拳击手。

7 approval   

n.赞成，同意；批准，认可

参考例句：

• The audience has expressed its approval.观众已经认可。
• The teacher signed his approval.老师做了手势表示同意。

8 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》

9 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。