VOA慢速英语 2007 1121a

This is the VOA Special English Health Report.

United Nations officials now say fewer people than they thought are infected with the virus that causes AIDS.

 
Last year, the agency known as UNAIDS estimated that thirty-nine and one-half million people were living with H.I.V. On Tuesday it reduced that by sixteen percent to a little more than thirty-three million.

Agency officials say the lower number represents better information and information from more countries. The single biggest reason, however, was an intensive re-examination of India's epidemic¹. At the same time, the agency reduced its estimates for five African countries: Angola, Kenya, Mozambique, Nigeria and Zimbabwe.

Also, UNAIDS says it now believes the number of new H.I.V. cases per year reached a high in the late nineteen nineties at more than three million. This year, it estimates that two and one-half million people became infected, and that two million people died of AIDS.

Yet even as the number of new infections has dropped, the number of people living with H.I.V. is increasing. Better treatments are extending lives, and more people are getting the drugs.

Also, the new report says prevention efforts appear to be changing risky² behavior in several of the countries most affected³ by H.I.V.

But U.N. officials say AIDS is still one of the leading causes of death worldwide and the major cause in Africa. African death rates remain high, they say, because treatment needs are not being met.

Sub-Saharan Africa had almost seventy percent of the new cases of H.I.V. reported this year. But UNAIDS officials say this is a notable reduction since two thousand one.

Many scientists who study epidemics⁴ have long argued that the agency has been overestimating⁵ the extent of H.I.V. worldwide. They say national estimates have been based mostly on findings from high-risk groups in large cities.

The lower estimate just released came from more studies of wider society, including rural areas. Even so, experts say there is a need to further improve the research methods.

Billions of dollars are being spent to prevent and treat H.I.V. Activists⁶ worry that the new estimate may lead to a drop in financial support. But UNAIDS officials say it does not change the need for immediate⁷ action and more money. They warn that in some countries, infection rates were falling but are now rising again.

And that’s the VOA Special English Health Report, written by Caty Weaver⁸.

 

1 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

2 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

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 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

5 overestimating   

对（数量）估计过高，对…作过高的评价( overestimate的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• I think you're overestimating his abilities. 我看你对他的能力评价过高。
• With hindsight, he was overestimating their desire for peace. 事后看来，他高估了他们对和平的渴望。

6 activists   

n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His research work was attacked by animal rights activists . 他的研究受到了动物权益维护者的抨击。
• Party activists with lower middle class pedigrees are numerous. 党的激进分子中有很多出身于中产阶级下层。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 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。

8 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。