VOA慢速英语2014 美国埃博拉患者被释放,病毒已清除

 

US Ebola Patients Released, Cleared of Virus 美国埃博拉患者被释放,病毒已清除

Two Americans who became sick with the deadly Ebola virus have been released from the hospital in Atlanta. Tests showed they were free of the disease.

Dr. Kent Brantly said “today is a miraculous¹ day” as he was released from Emory University Hospital in Atlanta after nearly three weeks of treatment.

Dr. Brantly and aid worker Nancy Writebol were treated with the experimental drug zMapp. They were infected with the disease in Liberia. The serum² was developed from proteins inside tobacco plants.

Dr. Bruce Ribner is the medical director of Emory’s Infectious Disease Unit. He said, “to the extent that we’ve tested. There is no evidence of Ebola virus in their bodies.”

Their recovery is the first bit of good news in the fight against the deadly virus.

The World Health Organization says 1,350 people have died in West Africa, with 576 of the deaths coming from Liberia.

Islamic State group demanded $132 million for ransom³

Global Post reports that the Islamic State militants⁴ had demanded $132 million for the release of American journalist James Foley before executing him.

Foley was a freelance journalist for the news outlet⁵ Global Post when he was taken. The news outlet gave the information to U.S. officials.  The United States has a policy of not paying ransom to kidnappers⁶.

The U.S. Defense⁷ Department said on Wednesday that a rescue mission for Foley and other hostages earlier this summer had failed.

It’s official, Widodo won

After more than a month, Indonesia’s Constitutional Court has upheld the official election result.  The ruling allows Jakarta Governor Joko Widodo to become Indonesia’s next president.

Prabowo Subianto, a former army general, had challenged the presidential election result in July after Widodo received about 53 percent of the vote.

A new prime minister for Thailand

The army chief who forced out Thailand’s civilian⁸ government three months ago has been selected as the kingdom’s prime minister. General Prayuth Chan-ocha was the only candidate nominated for the job.

1 miraculous   

adj.像奇迹一样的，不可思议的

参考例句：

• The wounded man made a miraculous recovery.伤员奇迹般地痊愈了。
• They won a miraculous victory over much stronger enemy.他们战胜了远比自己强大的敌人，赢得了非凡的胜利。

2 serum   

n.浆液，血清，乳浆

参考例句：

• The serum is available to the general public.一般公众均可获得血清。
• Untreated serum contains a set of 11 proteins called complement.未经处理的血清含有一组蛋白质，共11种，称为补体。

3 ransom   

n.赎金，赎身；v.赎回，解救

参考例句：

• We'd better arrange the ransom right away.我们最好马上把索取赎金的事安排好。
• The kidnappers exacted a ransom of 10000 from the family.绑架者向这家人家勒索10000英镑的赎金。

4 militants   

激进分子，好斗分子( militant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The militants have been sporadically fighting the government for years. 几年来，反叛分子一直对政府实施零星的战斗。
• Despite the onslaught, Palestinian militants managed to fire off rockets. 尽管如此，巴勒斯坦的激进分子仍然发射导弹。

5 outlet   

n.出口/路；销路；批发商店；通风口；发泄

参考例句：

• The outlet of a water pipe was blocked.水管的出水口堵住了。
• Running is a good outlet for his energy.跑步是他发泄过剩精力的好方法。

6 kidnappers   

n.拐子，绑匪( kidnapper的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• They were freed yesterday by their kidnappers unharmed. 他们昨天被绑架者释放了，没有受到伤害。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The kidnappers had threatened to behead all four unless their jailed comrades were released. 帮匪们曾经威胁说如果印度方面不释放他们的同伙，他们就要将这四名人质全部斩首。 来自《简明英汉词典》

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 civilian   

adj.平民的，民用的，民众的

参考例句：

• There is no reliable information about civilian casualties.关于平民的伤亡还没有确凿的信息。
• He resigned his commission to take up a civilian job.他辞去军职而从事平民工作。