VOA慢速英语2010-Development Report - World Bank Sees Prog

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

The World Bank says most developing countries have made important progress toward the United Nations' Millennium¹ Development Goals.

Last week the international lender released its yearly World Development Indicators². Hundreds of indicators are used to measure progress in areas such as education, health, poverty, the environment and trade.

One of the Millennium Development Goals is to reduce by half the number of people living in extreme poverty by twenty fifteen.

Out of eighty-seven countries with data available, forty-nine seem likely to reach that goal. "Extreme poverty" is defined³ as earning less than one dollar a day.

Another goal is to make education available to all young children. The report shows that in two thousand seven, seven out of ten children lived in developing countries that had met or were close to meeting that goal.

Also, thirty-nine countries have achieved or are likely to achieve the goal of reducing child death rates. The target is a two-thirds reduction by twenty fifteen.

And the report from the World Bank shows the first reduction in AIDS-related deaths.

But even with all the progress, there is still a long way to go to reach all eight goals approved by world leaders ten years ago. This is especially true in sub-Saharan Africa, which falls behind on all of the goals.

Eric Swanson is a program manager for the World Development Indicators.

ERIC SWANSON: "You have had a decade or more in Africa of very slow economic progress in the nineties. You've had civil war and other disruptions, you've had poor governance in many countries that has not allowed the economy to grow and, in particular, has not allowed poor people to share in the benefits of growth."

Still, he points to some hopeful signs -- including a large reduction in the child death rate in Malawi.

ERIC SWANSON: "Malawi is a landlocked state, it is one of the ones that we tend to worry most about, and yet it has demonstrated that when you focus attention on a problem you can make progress."

Last week the World Bank also launched a new "open data initiative⁴." The bank will make its data on living conditions around the world publicly available. Officials say this will make it easier to measure the effects of policies and develop new solutions to help the world's poor.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by June Simms. You can comment on our programs and learn about other development issues at voaspecialenglish.com. You can find transcripts⁵, MP3s and podcasts. You can also follow us on Facebook, Twitter, YouTube and iTunes at VOA Learning English. I'm Steve Ember.
 

1 millennium   

n.一千年，千禧年；太平盛世

参考例句：

• The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
• We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。

2 indicators   

（仪器上显示温度、压力、耗油量等的）指针( indicator的名词复数 )； 指示物； （车辆上的）转弯指示灯； 指示信号

参考例句：

• The economic indicators are better than expected. 经济指标比预期的好。
• It is still difficult to develop indicators for many concepts used in social science. 为社会科学领域的许多概念确立一个指标仍然很难。

3 defined   

adj 定义的; 清晰的

参考例句：

• These categories are not well defined. 这些类别划分得不太明确。
• The powers of a judge are defined by law. 法官的权限是由法律规定的。

4 initiative   

n.主动性，首创精神，主动权（的行动），倡议

参考例句：

• He went to see the headmaster on his own initiative.他主动去看望校长。
• His employer had described him as lacking in initiative and drive.雇主说他缺乏进取心和干劲。

5 transcripts   

n.抄本（ transcript的名词复数 ）；转写本；文字本；副本

参考例句：

• Like mRNA, both tRNA and rRNA are transcripts of chromosomal DNA. tRNA及rRNA同mRNA一样，都是染色体DNA的转录产物。 来自辞典例句
• You can't take the transfer students'exam without your transcripts. 没有成绩证明书，你就不能参加转学考试。 来自辞典例句