TED演讲:我们是如何通过手机短信帮助饥饿的孩子填饱肚子的(1)

I want to introduce you to my badass friends. Meet Thelma and Louise.

我想向你介绍我的朋友们。西尔玛和路易斯。

I'm passionate¹ about cows.

我对奶牛充满了热情。

And although they've been getting a lot of crap lately due to methane² emissions³ and climate change,

虽然它们最近因为甲烷排放和气候变化引发了很多非议，

I hope that I can redeem⁴ their reputation in part

但我希望恢复它们的部分声誉，

by showing you how incredibly important they are in solving one of the world's biggest problems: food security.

通过展示它们在解决世界上最大的问题之一，即粮食安全问题。

But more importantly, for Africa -- it's resultant childhood stunting⁵.

但更重要的是，在非洲--粮食安全造成了儿童发育迟缓。

Nutritional⁶ stunting manifests itself in a reduction of growth rate in human development.

营养失调表现为人类成长过程中生长速度的降低。

And according to UNICEF, stunting doesn't come easy. It doesn't come quickly.

按照联合国儿童基金会的说法，生长迟缓不会轻易发生。它也不会马上发生。

It happens over a long period of time during which a child endures painful and debilitating⁷ cycles of illness,

它会在很长一段时间内发生，比如当小孩遭受痛苦或者处于虚弱的疾病周期内、

depressed⁸ appetite, insufficient⁹ nutrition and inadequate¹⁰ care.

食欲减退、营养不足、还有关爱不足。

And most kids simply can't endure such rigors¹¹.

大部分儿童无法通过这样的严酷考验。

But those that do survive, they carry forward long-term cognitive¹² problems as well as losses of stature¹³.

那些存活下来的孩子，他们也会带着长期的认知问题，还有身体发育不良。

The numbers of stunted¹⁴ children under the age of five, in most regions of the world, has been declining.

在世界上绝大部分地区，五岁以下存在发育迟缓的儿童数量已经在减少。

And I really hate to say this, but the only place where they haven't been declining is here, in Africa.

我很不想这样说，但唯一人数没有减少的地方，就是这里，非洲。

Here, 59 million children, three in 10 in that age group,

在这里，五千九百万的儿童中，十分之三的这个年龄段的人，

struggle to meet their genetic¹⁵ potential -- their full genetic potential.

难以达到他们的基因潜力--他们完整的基因潜力。

1 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

2 methane   

n.甲烷，沼气

参考例句：

• The blast was caused by pockets of methane gas that ignited.爆炸是由数袋甲烷气体着火引起的。
• Methane may have extraterrestrial significance.甲烷具有星际意义。

3 emissions   

排放物( emission的名词复数 )； 散发物（尤指气体）

参考例句：

• Most scientists accept that climate change is linked to carbon emissions. 大多数科学家都相信气候变化与排放的含碳气体有关。
• Dangerous emissions radiate from plutonium. 危险的辐射物从钚放散出来。

4 redeem   

v.买回，赎回，挽回，恢复，履行（诺言等）

参考例句：

• He had no way to redeem his furniture out of pawn.他无法赎回典当的家具。
• The eyes redeem the face from ugliness.这双眼睛弥补了他其貌不扬之缺陷。

5 stunting   

v.阻碍…发育[生长]，抑制，妨碍( stunt的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• Objective To report three-year-old twin brothers with speech stunting. 目的报道孪生兄弟同患语言发育迟缓的临床结果。 来自互联网
• No one should talk while stunting except coach or back spotter. 在技巧进行的过程中，只有教练或后保能说话。 来自互联网

6 nutritional   

adj.营养的，滋养的

参考例句：

• A diet lacking in nutritional value will not keep a person healthy.缺乏营养价值的饮食不能维持人的健康。
• The labels on food products give a lot of information about their nutritional content.食品上的标签提供很多关于营养成分的信息。

7 debilitating   

a.使衰弱的

参考例句：

• The debilitating disease made him too weak to work. 这个令他衰弱的病，使他弱到没有办法工作。
• You may soon leave one debilitating condition or relationship forever. 你即将永远地和这段霉运说拜拜了。

8 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

9 insufficient   

adj.(for，of)不足的，不够的

参考例句：

• There was insufficient evidence to convict him.没有足够证据给他定罪。
• In their day scientific knowledge was insufficient to settle the matter.在他们的时代，科学知识还不能足以解决这些问题。

10 inadequate   

adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的

参考例句：

• The supply is inadequate to meet the demand.供不应求。
• She was inadequate to the demands that were made on her.她还无力满足对她提出的各项要求。

11 rigors   

严格( rigor的名词复数 )； 严酷； 严密； （由惊吓或中毒等导致的身体）僵直

参考例句：

• The rigors of that lonely land need no further description. 生活在那个穷乡僻壤的困苦是无庸赘言的。
• You aren't ready for the rigors of industry. 你不适合干工业的艰苦工作了。

12 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

13 stature   

n.（高度）水平，（高度）境界，身高，身材

参考例句：

• He is five feet five inches in stature.他身高5英尺5英寸。
• The dress models are tall of stature.时装模特儿的身材都较高。

14 stunted   

adj.矮小的；发育迟缓的

参考例句：

• the stunted lives of children deprived of education 未受教育的孩子所过的局限生活
• But the landed oligarchy had stunted the country's democratic development for generations. 但是好几代以来土地寡头的统治阻碍了这个国家民主的发展。

15 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。