VOA慢速英语2013 新反兴奋剂法不禁止草药

 

AS IT IS 2013-12-08 New Sport Doping Rule Doesn’t Ban Herbal Drugs 新反兴奋剂法不禁止草药

Welcome to As It Is from VOA Learning English.

I’m Christopher Cruise in Washington.

Today on the program, we report on the growing number of wealthy South Africans buying costly¹ cars.

"There definitely is a larger number of people entering into the super car market, even though the financial situation is not where it should be.”

But first, we hear about an herbal substance called “muti” that some African athletes believe can improve their athletic² performance.

“It’s quite common in certain sports -- especially such as boxing, and in some cases in wrestling -- because there are many African people who subscribe³ to that kind  of culture.”

New Sport Doping Rule Doesn’t Ban Herbal DrugsThe list of banned substances in sports is long. Recently, anti-doping officials released new, stronger rules. The new  rules are aimed at stopping athletes from taking performance-enhancing drugs, or PEDs.

But in some countries, anti-doping officials are dealing⁴ with such substances as snake skins and monkey parts that some athletes are taking because they believe they  will improve their performance.

Last month, officials of Africa’s sports groups gathered in Johannesburg, South Africa for the world anti-doping conference. They met to talk about whether they  should deal with traditional medicines in their rules.

VOA’s Anita Powell tells us more about one of those herbal substances -- called muti -- and its users.

I first learned about muti from a professional fighter at my Johannesburg boxing gym. “I’m going to the sangoma,” he told me -- using the word for a traditional  healer. “He is going to give me muti to make me really strong.”

The fighter told me about a market where dealers⁵ sell powerful combinations of shrunken animal parts and herbs. The dealers claim these drugs will make you harder,  better, faster, stronger.

Last month, I attended the world anti-doping conference where we discussed hard-to-pronounce chemicals and the doping activities of American cyclist Lance Armstrong.

I thought of my friend at the gym. And I discovered that I am not the only one worried about traditional medicines.

Rafiek Mammon works at South Africa’s anti-doping agency. He says muti is very popular in some sports. He says officials must respect the culture of the athletes who  believe the herbal drugs help them.

“It’s quite common in certain sports, especially such as boxing, and in some cases in wrestling, because there are many African people who subscribe to that kind of  culture, who, who take the muti, and who believe in it. So, who are we to tell them that their supplement is not allowed or is allowed in sport?”

David Howman is the secretary-general of the World Anti-Doping Agency. He says the agency has decided⁶ that herbal drugs should not be placed on a list of banned  substances.

“We had that very question asked before the Olympic Games in Beijing, as to whether Chinese traditional medicines were possibly doping substances. All the study that  has been conducted so far worldwide indicates to the contrary, that most of the herbal -- I can’t say all, because I just don’t know them all -- but most of the  herbal medicines and the traditional medicines have not shown to be performance-enhancing. So we don’t have any view beyond that.”

Rafiek Mammon said African officials talked about the issue during private meetings at the anti-doping conference.

“Especially at this conference we have had very, very good interaction with other -- especially African -- countries who are dealing with similar problems, or  challenges. And I think the way forward would be to, to open up those discussions a bit more and to have them a little bit more prominently featured.”

I’m Anita Powell, VOA News, Johannesburg.

You are listening to As It Is, a program designed to help you learn how to speak, read and write American English.

I’m Christopher Cruise, in Washington. Costly Cars Becoming More Common in South Africa Last month, the German carmaker Porsche made a surprising announcement about  its Middle East and Africa market. Porsche said it sells more cars in South Africa than in any of the other nineteen countries in that market.

Ross Crichton owns an event company in Johannesburg called Super Car Lifestyle. He says more and more of his customers are choosing what he calls “super cars” like  Ferraris and Porsches.

“There definitely is a larger number of people entering into the super car market, even though the financial situation is not where it should be. Compared to five  years ago, I would say the jump has been massive.”

South Africa’s automobile⁷ manufacturing organization says 71 new Ferraris, 19 new Maseratis and 1,035 new Porsches have been sold in the country since May.

The Porsche dealership⁸ near Johannesburg is huge. In fact, it was the biggest in the world until this year. It is responsible for 20 percent of Porsche sales in the  Middle East and Africa market.

Christo Kruger is the public relations manager for Porsche South Africa. He says both wealthy and very wealthy people are buying the cars.

“They are passionate⁹ motoring people. The global demographic remains¹⁰ exactly the same: that is, mostly male, 42-45, two kids, family, successful, entrepreneurial, or  at least in a financial position where they manage other people.”

Nathaniel Nel is the president of SuperCar Club SA. He has owned Lamborghinis and Porsches. He says people like these cars because they do what other cars cannot.

“It’s amazing. It’s a completely different experience than driving any other car. You’ve just got so much power under your foot. Driving any type of super car is  just freedom on the road.”

The research company New World Wealth says there are about 35,000 millionaires in South Africa.

Mr. Crichton says the buyers of “super cars” have changed over the years. He says there are more black buyers and younger buyers now.

“It is still only a very small segment of the South African population. It’s just really the ‘one-percenters’ who can afford these cars.”

South Africa’s income inequality is among the world’s worst. The World Economic Forum¹¹ says the richest 10 percent of South Africans earn more than 51 percent of the  country’s total income. More than half of the country is very poor and cannot buy any car at all.

Sales of costly goods in South Africa are expected to continue to grow. The business advice group Bain & Company says South Africa is still Africa’s top marketplace  for high cost goods.

And that’s our program for today. It was written from reports by Anita Powell and Peter Cox in Johannesburg.

Straight ahead we have two more programs to help you learn everyday American English -- “The Technology Report” with June Simms and “This Is America” with Kelly  Jean Kelly.

I’m Christopher Cruise reporting from VOA Learning English headquarters in Washington.

1 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

2 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

3 subscribe   

vi.(to)订阅，订购；同意；vt.捐助，赞助

参考例句：

• I heartily subscribe to that sentiment.我十分赞同那个观点。
• The magazine is trying to get more readers to subscribe.该杂志正大力发展新订户。

4 dealing   

n.经商方法，待人态度

参考例句：

• This store has an excellent reputation for fair dealing.该商店因买卖公道而享有极高的声誉。
• His fair dealing earned our confidence.他的诚实的行为获得我们的信任。

5 dealers   

n.商人( dealer的名词复数 )；贩毒者；毒品贩子；发牌者

参考例句：

• There was fast bidding between private collectors and dealers. 私人收藏家和交易商急速竞相喊价。
• The police were corrupt and were operating in collusion with the drug dealers. 警察腐败，与那伙毒品贩子内外勾结。

6 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

7 automobile   

n.汽车，机动车

参考例句：

• He is repairing the brake lever of an automobile.他正在修理汽车的刹车杆。
• The automobile slowed down to go around the curves in the road.汽车在路上转弯时放慢了速度。

8 dealership   

n.商品特许经销处

参考例句：

• The car dealership has a large inventory of used cars. 这家汽车经销商拥有数量庞大的二手车。
• A key to this effort is the experience in the dealership. 达到这个成果的关键是销售的体验。

9 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

10 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

11 forum   

n.论坛，讨论会

参考例句：

• They're holding a forum on new ways of teaching history.他们正在举行历史教学讨论会。
• The organisation would provide a forum where problems could be discussed.这个组织将提供一个可以讨论问题的平台。