CNN 2010-08-30

CARL AZUZ, CNN STUDENT NEWS ANCHOR: It's the most awesome¹ day of the week, and we're glad you're spending part of it with CNN Student News. I'm Carl Azuz. You're in for 10 minutes of commercial-free headlines starting right this second.

First Up: Food Safety

AZUZ: First up, a proposal that could be the biggest overhaul² of food safety laws in the U.S. in about 70 years. The U.S. House of Representatives passed a version of this bill a year ago. The Senate is expected to start looking at the issue when it comes back in session soon. A lot of this has to do with the FDA, the Food and Drug Administration. Brianna Keilar gives us a look at what's being considered.

BRIANNA KEILAR, CNN CONGRESSIONAL CORRESPONDENT, WASHINGTON, D.C.: The House and the Senate bill are different. But overall, here's sort of what it does. It would give the FDA direct recall power. You may not realize the FDA doesn't have this. The only thing they can directly recall themselves is baby food, and then they have to have industries go along with recalling their own stuff.

It would also put in place more food inspections³. Right now, FDA inspectors⁴ may inspect a food producer only once every several years. It would increase that. And also, there would be better tracking of food-borne illness, but also contaminated products so that they could come off the shelves more quickly. All of these things, I know consumers are probably looking at and going, "OK, I see how that affects me." But the House bill is a lot harder on the industry when it comes to oversight⁵ and enforcement. The Senate bill is a little softer. So, there are some big differences here that would still need to be reconciled.

What is Salmonella?

AZUZ: All right. If the Senate passes its version of the bill, it would still need to be merged⁶ with the House's version before it could be put to a final vote. This legislation though is gaining some momentum⁷ from the recent egg recall that has caused a lot of concerns about salmonella. Dr. Sanjay Gupta explains more about that.

DR. SANJAY GUPTA, CNN CHIEF MEDICAL CORRESPONDENT: I want to break down exactly what this is. It's a type of bacteria. It's common in the environment, and it can be on different types of food. This strain specifically, Salmonella enteritidis, is found in chickens. They can carry the bug⁸ or even pass it onto their eggs without getting sick themselves. They can be sort of carriers.

Now, if you get salmonella through contaminated eggs or meat, the bacteria goes to the lining⁹ of the small intestine¹⁰. Symptoms can be mild or severe, and mainly it's going to be G.I., or gastrointestinal symptoms: cramps¹¹, nausea¹², diarrhea, vomiting¹³. It can also cause fever and cause severe headache. One possible long-term complication, it can get into the joints¹⁴ and cause arthritis¹⁵, and that can linger for months or even longer.

Mild or severe, most people are going to recover fully¹⁶. But complications can be serious. Older people, young babies and people with immune problems are going to be most at risk.

In the worst case, the bacteria can get into the blood stream and cause a severe infection called sepsis. That's life-threatening, although with treatment, the fatality¹⁷ rate is still pretty low, about less than a tenth of a percent.

Salmonella makes about 1.3 million people sick every year. That's according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. It's neck and neck with campylobacter, another bacteria, the second most common food-borne illness. The most common, by far, is norovirus. That makes about nine million people sick every year. Big numbers. By contrast, E. coli only makes about 40,000 people sick. And botulism -- we talk about that a lot -- only causes about 50 or 60 cases total every year. Of course, those tend to be more severe, sometimes even deadly.
 

1 awesome   

adj.令人惊叹的，难得吓人的，很好的

参考例句：

• The church in Ireland has always exercised an awesome power.爱尔兰的教堂一直掌握着令人敬畏的权力。
• That new white convertible is totally awesome.那辆新的白色折篷汽车简直棒极了.

2 overhaul   

v./n.大修，仔细检查

参考例句：

• Master Worker Wang is responsible for the overhaul of this grinder.王师傅主修这台磨床。
• It is generally appreciated that the rail network needs a complete overhaul.众所周知，铁路系统需要大检修。

3 inspections   

n.检查( inspection的名词复数 )；检验；视察；检阅

参考例句：

• Regular inspections are carried out at the prison. 经常有人来视察这座监狱。
• Government inspections ensure a high degree of uniformity in the standard of service. 政府检查确保了在服务标准方面的高度一致。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 inspectors   

n.检查员( inspector的名词复数 )；（英国公共汽车或火车上的）查票员；（警察）巡官；检阅官

参考例句：

• They got into the school in the guise of inspectors. 他们假装成视察员进了学校。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Inspectors checked that there was adequate ventilation. 检查员已检查过，通风良好。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 oversight   

n.勘漏，失察，疏忽

参考例句：

• I consider this a gross oversight on your part.我把这件事看作是你的一大疏忽。
• Your essay was not marked through an oversight on my part.由于我的疏忽你的文章没有打分。

6 merged   

（使）混合( merge的过去式和过去分词 )； 相融； 融入； 渐渐消失在某物中

参考例句：

• Turf wars are inevitable when two departments are merged. 两个部门合并时总免不了争争权限。
• The small shops were merged into a large market. 那些小商店合并成为一个大商场。

7 momentum   

n.动力，冲力，势头；动量

参考例句：

• We exploit the energy and momentum conservation laws in this way.我们就是这样利用能量和动量守恒定律的。
• The law of momentum conservation could supplant Newton's third law.动量守恒定律可以取代牛顿第三定律。

8 bug   

n.虫子；故障；窃听器；vt.纠缠；装窃听器

参考例句：

• There is a bug in the system.系统出了故障。
• The bird caught a bug on the fly.那鸟在飞行中捉住了一只昆虫。

9 lining   

n.衬里，衬料

参考例句：

• The lining of my coat is torn.我的外套衬里破了。
• Moss makes an attractive lining to wire baskets.用苔藓垫在铁丝篮里很漂亮。

10 intestine   

adj.内部的；国内的；n.肠

参考例句：

• This vitamin is absorbed through the walls of the small intestine.这种维生素通过小肠壁被吸收。
• The service productivity is the function,including external efficiency,intestine efficiency and capacity efficiency.服务业的生产率是一个包含有外部效率、内部效率和能力效率的函数。

11 cramps   

n. 抽筋, 腹部绞痛, 铁箍 adj. 狭窄的, 难解的 v. 使...抽筋, 以铁箍扣紧, 束缚

参考例句：

• If he cramps again let the line cut him off. 要是它再抽筋，就让这钓索把它勒断吧。
• "I have no cramps." he said. “我没抽筋，"他说。

12 nausea   

n.作呕，恶心；极端的憎恶(或厌恶)

参考例句：

• Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕期常有恶心的现象。
• He experienced nausea after eating octopus.吃了章鱼后他感到恶心。

13 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

14 joints   

接头( joint的名词复数 )； 关节； 公共场所（尤指价格低廉的饮食和娱乐场所） （非正式）； 一块烤肉 （英式英语）

参考例句：

• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on gas mains. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在煤气的总管道上了。
• Expansion joints of various kinds are fitted on steam pipes. 各种各样的伸缩接头被安装在蒸气管道上了。

15 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

16 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

17 fatality   

n.不幸，灾祸，天命

参考例句：

• She struggle against fatality in vain.她徒然奋斗反抗宿命。
• He began to have a growing sense of fatality.他开始有一种越来越强烈的宿命感。