VOA常速英语2014--埃博拉病毒疫情爆发伤害西非经济体

 

Ebola Hurts Economies in West Africa 埃博拉病毒疫情爆发伤害西非经济体

The recent Ebola outbreak in West Africa is likely to hurt economic growth and government finances in Guinea, Liberia and Sierra Leone and perhaps Nigeria, according to a key analyst¹. Prevention efforts are crimping commerce, sports, travel and trade.

Ebola sparks fear, and protests demanding stronger and smarter government actions.

埃博拉散播着恐惧,而且出现了要求政府更为强势,更为明智举措的抗议声。

It's spread by contact with blood or other body fluids of infected people, which is why it has killed scores of medical workers and forced some hospitals to close.

这种疾病经过接触血液或其他感染者的体液传播,这就是为什么它造成数十名医务工作者死亡及一些医院被迫关闭的原因。

Moody's credit rating service says the costs of fighting Ebola will strain national budgets, while the slowdown in commerce will cut tax revenues and could make measurable cuts in each country's annual GDP growth. Experts say this outbreak is hurting the economy more than previous ones in Africa because it is in a more populated area.

穆迪信用评级服务公司表示抗击埃博拉一役将为国家预算带来压力，而商业上的放缓将使得税收及每个国家的年度GDP增长减少。专家表示这次比以往在非洲的疫情更伤害经济,因为它是在一个更密集的区域爆发。

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Nigerian-born economics professor Benjamin Akande is worried. He is the dean of Webster University's business school in the United States, and he spoke² to VOA via Skype.

尼日利亚籍经济学教授本杰明·阿砍德对此忧心忡忡。美国韦伯斯特大学商学院院长的他通过Skype接受美国之音采访。

"The economic implications of this Ebola virus are staggering and it's staggering because it's on the edge of possibly shutting down the economic lifeline for the affected³ countries.”

“埃博拉病毒对经济造成的影响令人震惊,主要是因为这种病毒处于可能使得受影响国家经济命脉关闭的边缘。”

Moody's reports Ebola is likely to disrupt air travel and other critical commercial and transport activities for at least a month.

穆迪报告显示埃博拉病毒可能会至少一个月内扰乱航空旅行，其他重要商业和运输活动等。

Some airlines are demanding hand washing and temperature checks for passengers, while others have canceled flights.

一些航空公司要求乘客们进行洗手和温度检测,而其他人则已经取消航班。

Officials have also closed some borders, banned some public gatherings⁴ and sports events and told some workers to stay home.

官员也关闭了某些边境,禁止公众参加集会和体育赛事,并且让一些工人呆在家里。

A shopkeeper said the situation is hurting commerce. “Since then the customers are low, you understand?”

一位店主表示这样的境况使得商业受到了影响。“自那以后,客人们就很少光顾,你懂吗?”

A Wesleyan University disease expert said Ebola has killed more than 1,000 people and is likely to kill more. But the human and economic toll⁵ from other diseases-like malaria⁶-is higher, according to William Johnston, speaking via Skype.

卫斯理大学一位疾病专家表示埃博拉已造成超过1000人死亡,而且还会有更多人死于它的魔爪。但是威廉·约翰斯顿通过Skype表示相比其他诸如疟疾等疾病造成的人类和经济损失则更高。

"Approximately 207 million cases with 627,000 deaths from malaria itself in 2012, tuberculosis⁷, they counted 8.6 million new cases."

“2012年有大约2.07亿例疟疾,627000人死于该病,而结核病则有860万新病例。”

Dr.Amesh Adalja, an infectious disease expert at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, said competing priorities are one reason there is no effective vaccine⁸ or treatment is widely available yet.

匹兹堡医疗中心大学传染病专家阿密·阿达贾表示竞争优先级是没有广泛使用有效的疫苗或治疗措施的一个原因。

“Ebola affects a very small proportion of the population. These outbreaks are sporadic⁹, explosive, and then disappear.They are controlled using very low-tech measures that are low cost, and each outbreak has been stopped using these low-tech measures up until this one.”

“埃博拉影响人口的比例非常小。而这次疫情虽然零星分散,但具有爆炸性的传播效果,然后迅速消失。该疾病的控制需要使用非常简单的低成本措施,并且每次疫情爆发都使用这些措施，直到这一次出现。”

Those low-tech measures include telling potential victims how to avoid infection, providing more protective suits and gloves for health workers, and a dose of soap, water and bleach¹⁰.

这些技术措施包括告诉潜在的受害者如何避免感染,为卫生工作者提供更多的防护服和手套,肥皂、水源和漂白剂等。

So far, though, officials have not convinced enough people to use those measures, and the disease is not contained.

然而到目前为止,官方并没有说服足够多的人使用这些措施,而且这种疾病也没有包含在内。

1 analyst   

n.分析家，化验员；心理分析学家

参考例句：

• What can you contribute to the position of a market analyst?你有什么技能可有助于市场分析员的职务？
• The analyst is required to interpolate values between standards.分析人员需要在这些标准中插入一些值。

2 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

5 toll   

n.过路(桥)费；损失，伤亡人数；v.敲(钟)

参考例句：

• The hailstone took a heavy toll of the crops in our village last night.昨晚那场冰雹损坏了我们村的庄稼。
• The war took a heavy toll of human life.这次战争夺去了许多人的生命。

6 malaria   

n.疟疾

参考例句：

• He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
• Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。

7 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

8 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

9 sporadic   

adj.偶尔发生的 [反]regular；分散的

参考例句：

• The sound of sporadic shooting could still be heard.仍能听见零星的枪声。
• You know this better than I.I received only sporadic news about it.你们比我更清楚，而我听到的只是零星消息。

10 bleach   

vt.使漂白；vi.变白；n.漂白剂

参考例句：

• These products don't bleach the hair.这些产品不会使头发变白。
• Did you bleach this tablecloth?你把这块桌布漂白了吗？