VOA慢速英语 2007 0616

This is IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.

This week, the World Health Organization released its first country-by-country look at 
Smoke from wood fires creates pollution in the home
environmental health risks. These include pollution, dangers in the workplace and ultraviolet radiation from the sun. They also include risks like noise, unsafe agricultural methods, climate change and people's behavior. The report says making environmental conditions healthier could prevent thirteen million deaths each year.

Research on close to two hundred countries found that the worst affected¹ include Angola, Burkina Faso, Mali and Afghanistan.

The study found that two major environmental risks cause more than ten percent of the deaths in twenty-three countries. These risks are unsafe water and indoor air pollution from burning wood, coal or animal waste for fuel.

Poor countries suffer the most from environmental health risks. They lose about twenty times more healthy years of life per person per year than wealthy countries, the W.H.O. says. But it says even countries with better environmental conditions could still reduce disease rates by almost one-sixth.

In some poor countries, environmental improvements could cut disease rates by more than a third.

The main victims of environmentally related diseases are children under age five. For example, the report says they represent three-fourths of the deaths from diarrhea and lung infections.

W.H.O. official Susanne Weber-Mosdorf says the study is a first step toward helping² national decision-makers to set goals for preventive action. But the findings show there is a lot individuals could do to reduce death rates.

Among suggestions given are using cleaner fuels like gas or electricity as well as using better cooking devices. Improving air flow and keeping children away from smoke could also prevent many lung infections. And lives could be saved with household water treatment and safe storage.

The Country Profiles of Environmental Burden of Disease can be found online at who.int. Or click on the direct click at our Web site, voaspecialenglish.com.

Before we go, we want to update you on our report two weeks ago, when we talked about the definition of genocide. We discussed the violence in Darfur, in western Sudan, and the efforts to deploy³ a large peacekeeping force.

This week Sudan accepted the joint⁴ proposals of the African Union and the United Nations for a so-called hybrid⁵ operation. The African Union announced the news at a meeting in the Ethiopian capital, Addis Ababa. A.U. officials said the force would be made up of around eighteen thousand troops and an additional three thousand seven hundred police officers. 

But in Washington, a State Department spokesman said it was not yet clear if Sudan will accept non-African troops. If Sudan does not, it would mean rejection⁶ of the plan, he said, since African nations will likely not be able to provide the full number of troops.

Seven thousand African Union peacekeepers are already in Darfur. 

And that's IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English, written by Brianna Blake. I’m Steve Ember.

 

1 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。

2 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

3 deploy   

v.（军）散开成战斗队形，布置，展开

参考例句：

• The infantry began to deploy at dawn.步兵黎明时开始进入战斗位置。
• The president said he had no intention of deploying ground troops.总统称并不打算部署地面部队。

4 joint   

adj.联合的，共同的；n.关节，接合处；v.连接，贴合

参考例句：

• I had a bad fall,which put my shoulder out of joint.我重重地摔了一跤，肩膀脫臼了。
• We wrote a letter in joint names.我们联名写了封信。

5 hybrid   

n.(动，植）杂种，混合物

参考例句：

• That is a hybrid perpetual rose.那是一株杂交的四季开花的蔷薇。
• The hybrid was tall,handsome,and intelligent.那混血儿高大、英俊、又聪明。

6 rejection   

n.拒绝，被拒，抛弃，被弃

参考例句：

• He decided not to approach her for fear of rejection.他因怕遭拒绝决定不再去找她。
• The rejection plunged her into the dark depths of despair.遭到拒绝使她陷入了绝望的深渊。