英伦广角 Issue 125 中国奶粉丑闻

For more than a week, worried parents have crowded hospitals across the country, all hoping that urgent medical treatment will be enough to overcome the tainted¹ milk that’s in their child's system. While thousands of babies have become sick, thousands more are still at risk, raising fears that the death toll² could rise as more cases are diagnosed.

The scandal first emerged last week when the Sanlu Group, China’s biggest baby milk maker³, announced that some babies had developed kidney stones and complications after drinking milk made from powder tainted with melamine. As cases of contamination soared, the Chinese government took immediate⁴ action. And late on Friday, officials said that all children who’d consumed tainted milk would be given free treatment.

The position that China now finds itself in is a result of unscrupulous farmers and negligent⁵ food companies. Tests show that in an attempt to cut costs, the nitrogen-rich compound melamine was added to water down milk in order to pass quality inspections⁶. Contamination was thought to be restricted to powdered baby milk. But officials have confirmed that 10% of liquid milk from three of China’s dairies was also tainted with melamine. The companies have been named as Mengniu Dairy Group, Yili Industrial Group and Bright Dairy.

With uncertainty⁷ about China’s milk production growing by the day, Malaysia has now joined neighboring Singapore in the ban of all Chinese milk imports. And as the European Union and the US demanded an explanation, Chinese quality officials have been trying to regain⁸ consumer confidence, saying that most milk was safe. With a string of food scares in recent years, it may take some time to restore their trust. Liz Kennedy, Reuters.

1 tainted   

adj.腐坏的；污染的；沾污的；感染的v.使变质( taint的过去式和过去分词 )；使污染；败坏；被污染，腐坏，败坏

参考例句：

• The administration was tainted with scandal. 丑闻使得政府声名狼藉。
• He was considered tainted by association with the corrupt regime. 他因与腐败政府有牵连而名誉受损。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 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。

3 maker   

n.制造者，制造商

参考例句：

• He is a trouble maker，You must be distant with him.他是个捣蛋鬼，你不要跟他在一起。
• A cabinet maker must be a master craftsman.家具木工必须是技艺高超的手艺人。

4 immediate   

adj.立即的；直接的，最接近的；紧靠的

参考例句：

• His immediate neighbours felt it their duty to call.他的近邻认为他们有责任去拜访。
• We declared ourselves for the immediate convocation of the meeting.我们主张立即召开这个会议。

5 negligent   

adj.疏忽的；玩忽的；粗心大意的

参考例句：

• The committee heard that he had been negligent in his duty.委员会听说他玩忽职守。
• If the government is proved negligent,compensation will be payable.如果证明是政府的疏忽，就应支付赔偿。

6 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》

7 uncertainty   

n.易变，靠不住，不确知，不确定的事物

参考例句：

• Her comments will add to the uncertainty of the situation.她的批评将会使局势更加不稳定。
• After six weeks of uncertainty,the strain was beginning to take its toll.6个星期的忐忑不安后，压力开始产生影响了。

8 regain   

vt.重新获得，收复，恢复

参考例句：

• He is making a bid to regain his World No.1 ranking.他正为重登世界排名第一位而努力。
• The government is desperate to regain credibility with the public.政府急于重新获取公众的信任。