2006年VOA标准英语-International AIDS Conference Set to Begin in T

By Jessica Berman
Washington
09 August 2006

Thousands of HIV/AIDS researchers and advocates are descending¹ on Toronto, Canada for the 16th International AIDS conference, which opens Sunday.  The theme of the conference, "Time to Deliver," reflects both the frustrations² and the hope of the international AIDS community.

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The first cases of HIV were reported in the United States 25 years ago in June. 
 
 
Dr. Anthony Fauci speaking with VOA reporters, July 25, 2006 
  
Anthony Fauci remembers it well.  Fauci, who heads the U.S. government's Institute of Allergy³ and Infectious Diseases, has become the most visible face of AIDS research in the United States. 

But back then, Dr. Fauci was an infectious diseases specialist, flipping⁴ through a copy of a government surveillance newsletter, when he saw a report on five healthy homosexual men in Los Angeles who had contracted pneumonia⁵. 

A second report soon followed of 45 men in a number of large U.S. cities who had contracted not only pneumonia, but a rare form of cancer.

"I knew we were in some serious trouble.  I did not, in my wildest dreams, imagine how serious a problem this would be," he said.

For a long time, HIV was thought to be confined to middle-income, white homosexual males in North American cities. 

But as sociologists began to learn more about the disease and looked beyond U.S. shores, Fauci says they found HIV/AIDS was widespread.

"It already was a global issue, but only because of the health care delivery system in the United States and western world was it recognized here first," he noted⁶.  "So, if we fast-forward 25 years, what we have now is more than 65 million cases of HIV, 25 million of which have died.   There are now 38.3 million people living with HIV."

And, according to the World Health Organization, there are an estimated 3 million AIDS deaths each year and 4 million new infections.

Over the past two decades, treatment with anti-viral drugs and prevention strategies, through education and safe sex practices, have made HIV a manageable disease, but there's still no cure. 

An AIDS vaccine⁷ remains⁸ an elusive⁹ goal because the AIDS virus does not behave like other pathogens.  According to Fauci, there has never been a documented case of an HIV-infected person suddenly becoming well. 

Scientists have tried for years to understand why the body cannot get rid of it the way it eventually fights off other viruses such as smallpox¹⁰, measles¹¹ and polio.  But over the past two-and-a-half decades, researchers have increased their understanding of HIV, and there will be no shortage of technical presentations in Toronto.

It is well known how HIV disables the immune system by commandeering T-cells, which are involved in the activation¹² and regulation of the immune system.

But researchers at the University of Montreal have been studying the role of another immune system cell called a macrophage. 

Eric Cohen of the department of human retroviral research says he and his colleagues are trying to find out why a so-called "reservoir" of HIV remains in the body in spite of aggressive treatment with anti-viral drugs designed boost the immune system.

The researchers think it is because HIV burrows¹³ into macrophages to avoid detection.

"What I'm going to be talking about at the AIDS conference is really some of the study that we have done to try to understand the intracellular pathways that are used by the virus to either reach the plasma¹⁴ membrane¹⁵ in some cell types or those intracellular compartments¹⁶ where they hide and avoid the immune response," said Mr. Cohen.

  
  
The Toronto AIDS conference will provide an international platform for what has become a serious, but unrecognized health crisis, the co-infection of HIV/AIDS and tuberculosis¹⁷. 

According to experts, up to 75 percent of people infected with HIV in some countries are also sick with life-threatening TB.

"Governments and the international community must recognize that they've got on their hands two simultaneous and interrelated catastrophes," said Stephen Lewis, the United Nations Special Envoy¹⁸ for AIDS in Africa.  "And that is true worldwide, wherever the two interact.  So, we must confront both together.  We need more resources, we need more diagnostics, we need better drugs, and we need the HIV and TB components¹⁹ working together."

In the end, the Toronto conference is not expected to be the stage for any earth shattering announcements.  Instead, Anthony Fauci expects it will be a consolidation²⁰ of the latest research into trying to understand the AIDS pandemic. 

"Although we talk a lot about the research accomplishments²¹, the prevention and the care and the treatment of people are really the bottom line issues, including access in developing countries," he added.

Researchers say access to anti-AIDS drugs, while not a cure, can transform a deadly disease into a manageable one.

1 descending   

n. 下行 adj. 下降的

参考例句：

• The results are expressed in descending numerical order . 结果按数字降序列出。
• The climbers stopped to orient themselves before descending the mountain. 登山者先停下来确定所在的位置，然后再下山。

2 frustrations   

挫折( frustration的名词复数 )； 失败； 挫败； 失意

参考例句：

• The temptation would grow to take out our frustrations on Saigon. 由于我们遭到挫折而要同西贡算帐的引诱力会增加。
• Aspirations will be raised, but so will frustrations. 人们会产生种种憧憬，但是种种挫折也会随之而来。

3 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

4 flipping   

讨厌之极的

参考例句：

• I hate this flipping hotel! 我讨厌这个该死的旅馆！
• Don't go flipping your lid. 别发火。

5 pneumonia   

n.肺炎

参考例句：

• Cage was struck with pneumonia in her youth.凯奇年轻时得过肺炎。
• Pneumonia carried him off last week.肺炎上星期夺去了他的生命。

6 noted   

adj.著名的，知名的

参考例句：

• The local hotel is noted for its good table.当地的那家酒店以餐食精美而著称。
• Jim is noted for arriving late for work.吉姆上班迟到出了名。

7 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

8 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。

9 elusive   

adj.难以表达(捉摸)的；令人困惑的；逃避的

参考例句：

• Try to catch the elusive charm of the original in translation.翻译时设法把握住原文中难以捉摸的风韵。
• Interpol have searched all the corners of the earth for the elusive hijackers.国际刑警组织已在世界各地搜查在逃的飞机劫持者。

10 smallpox   

n.天花

参考例句：

• In 1742 he suffered a fatal attack of smallpox.1742年，他染上了致命的天花。
• Were you vaccinated against smallpox as a child?你小时候打过天花疫苗吗？

11 measles   

n.麻疹，风疹，包虫病，痧子

参考例句：

• The doctor is quite definite about Tom having measles.医生十分肯定汤姆得了麻疹。
• The doctor told her to watch out for symptoms of measles.医生叫她注意麻疹出现的症状。

12 activation   

n. 激活，催化作用

参考例句：

• A computer controls the activation of an air bag.电脑控制着气囊的启动。

13 burrows   

n.地洞( burrow的名词复数 )v.挖掘（洞穴），挖洞( burrow的第三人称单数 )；翻寻

参考例句：

• The intertidal beach unit contains some organism burrows. 潮间海滩单元含有一些生物潜穴。 来自辞典例句
• A mole burrows its way through the ground. 鼹鼠会在地下钻洞前进。 来自辞典例句

14 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

15 membrane   

n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸

参考例句：

• A vibrating membrane in the ear helps to convey sounds to the brain.耳膜的振动帮助声音传送到大脑。
• A plastic membrane serves as selective diffusion barrier.一层塑料薄膜起着选择性渗透屏障的作用。

16 compartments   

n.间隔( compartment的名词复数 )；（列车车厢的）隔间；（家具或设备等的）分隔间；隔层

参考例句：

• Your pencil box has several compartments. 你的铅笔盒有好几个格。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The first-class compartments are in front. 头等车室在前头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

17 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

18 envoy   

n.使节，使者，代表，公使

参考例句：

• Their envoy showed no sign of responding to our proposals.他们的代表对我方的提议毫无回应的迹象。
• The government has not yet appointed an envoy to the area.政府尚未向这一地区派过外交官。

19 components   

（机器、设备等的）构成要素，零件，成分； 成分( component的名词复数 )； [物理化学]组分； [数学]分量； （混合物的）组成部分

参考例句：

• the components of a machine 机器部件
• Our chemistry teacher often reduces a compound to its components in lab. 在实验室中化学老师常把化合物分解为各种成分。

20 consolidation   

n.合并,巩固

参考例句：

• The denser population necessitates closer consolidation both for internal and external action. 住得日益稠密的居民，对内和对外都不得不更紧密地团结起来。 来自英汉非文学 - 家庭、私有制和国家的起源
• The state ensures the consolidation and growth of the state economy. 国家保障国营经济的巩固和发展。 来自汉英非文学 - 中国宪法

21 accomplishments   

n.造诣；完成( accomplishment的名词复数 )；技能；成绩；成就

参考例句：

• It was one of the President's greatest accomplishments. 那是总统最伟大的成就之一。
• Among her accomplishments were sewing,cooking,playing the piano and dancing. 她的才能包括缝纫、烹调、弹钢琴和跳舞。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》