VOA慢速英语 2007 1008a

This is the VOA Special English Development Report.

 
An unidentified couple in South Africa. The couple's HIV status is not known.
A common belief about AIDS and marriage is that husbands are more likely to infect wives than the other way around. Generally speaking this may be true. But a researcher has found that women may be responsible for more infections than experts have thought.

Vinod Mishra at Macro International, a research group in the United States, led a study of married couples in Africa. He studied what are known as discordant¹ couples. This meant one partner had H.I.V., the virus that causes AIDS, while the other did not.

He examined population records and medical information from eleven African countries. He found that in four of these eleven countries, women were the infected partners in a majority of cases.

This was true in sixty-two percent of couples in Ivory² Coast and Kenya. Wives were also the majority of infected partners in Ethiopia and Cameroon.

Lesotho had the smallest percentage of couples where only the wife was infected. Yet even there it was thirty-four percent.

How does Vinod Mishra explain these findings³?

More women could be entering marriage already infected, he says. Or they could be getting H.I.V. from non-sexual⁴ causes. Maybe they received an injection⁵ with a needle that had been used before on someone with H.I.V.

But the researcher does not think these are the main explanations. He says there is clear evidence that a majority of women are getting infected within marriage from a person other than their husband.

AIDS prevention campaigns to change behavior have been aimed mostly at men. After all, men have generally been considered the main source for the spread of H.I.V. This thinking has been guided in part by the theories of AIDS investigators⁶ based on people's own reports about their sexual behavior.

But Vinod Mishra says one possibility is that women are not fully⁷ reporting their sexual history. He says more research is needed before there can be any firm theories about H.I.V. infections and marriage. This issue is not about who is to blame, he tells us, but instead about saving⁸ lives and developing the best AIDS programs possible.

He presented his findings in June at a meeting in Rwanda. The event was organized by the American effort known as PEPFAR, the President’s Emergency Plan for AIDS Relief.

And that's the VOA Special English Development Report, written by Jill Moss⁹. To learn more about AIDS, go to voaspecialenglish.com. I’m Shep ONeal.

1 discordant   

adj.不调和的

参考例句：

• Leonato thought they would make a discordant pair.里奥那托认为他们不适宜作夫妻。
• For when we are deeply mournful discordant above all others is the voice of mirth.因为当我们极度悲伤的时候，欢乐的声音会比其他一切声音都更显得不谐调。

2 ivory   

n.象牙，乳白色；adj.象牙制的，乳白色的

参考例句：

• My grandmother has some jewelry made of ivory.我祖母有一些象牙首饰。
• It is carved from ivory.它是用象牙雕成的。

3 findings   

n.发现物( finding的名词复数 )；调查（或研究）的结果；（陪审团的）裁决

参考例句：

• It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
• Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。

4 sexual   

adj.性的，两性的，性别的

参考例句：

• He was a person of gross sexual appetites.他是个性欲旺盛的人。
• It is socially irresponsible to refuse young people advice on sexual matters.拒绝向年轻人提供性方面的建议是对社会不负责任。

5 injection   

n.注射，注入；注射液

参考例句：

• Those drugs are given by injection as well as through the mouth.那些药品可以注射，也可以口服。
• She pressed the patient a bit too hard when she gave him an injection.她打针时手重了些。

6 investigators   

n.调查者，审查者( investigator的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• This memo could be the smoking gun that investigators have been looking for. 这份备忘录可能是调查人员一直在寻找的证据。
• The team consisted of six investigators and two secretaries. 这个团队由六个调查人员和两个秘书组成。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 saving   

n.节省，节约；[pl.]储蓄金，存款

参考例句：

• Energy saving is term strategic policy of our country.节约能源是我国长期的战略国策。
• Old-fashioned housewives were usually very saving.旧时的家庭主妇通常都很节俭。

9 moss   

n.苔，藓，地衣

参考例句：

• Moss grows on a rock.苔藓生在石头上。
• He was found asleep on a pillow of leaves and moss.有人看见他枕着树叶和苔藓睡着了。