VOA标准英语2014--Pakistan Battling Not Only Polio, but Misinformation

 

Pakistan Battling Not Only Polio, but Misinformation

SHABQADAR, PAKISTAN— 

Pakistan is losing ground in the battle against polio, with the country suffering its worst outbreaks in more than a decade.

Efforts to erase¹ polio are hampered² by suspicions that health workers are spies, following the CIA's use of a vaccination³ team to track Osama bin⁴ Laden⁵. That legacy⁶ led to two polio workers being killed Wednesday.

Since December of 2012, militants⁷ have killed several dozen health workers involved with the Pakistan vaccination program and the police officers escorting them.

False information 

However, suspicions about the vaccine⁸ itself are also proving to be an obstacle. A recent push to vaccinate⁹ Pakistani children against polio saw health workers not just combatting a disease, but also false information.

"People say that it's not good, it's not right. They say there is something in this vaccine - that there is swine used in the vaccine. And some say that it takes your manhood away. It makes you impotent," said one male resident of Shabqadar.

Wiped out in other countries, polio is making a comeback in Pakistan, with more than 200 cases so far this year.

A village in Shabqadar is one of several targets in the government's plan to vaccinate every child under the age of five. But the program has been disrupted by regional violence, displacement¹⁰ and increasingly, suspicions like these.

"There is hate for this vaccine. Mullahs have issued 20 different statements. They say that it's an anti-Muslim campaign," said Jamil Khan, a Shabqadar resident. "It stops young boys from being able to produce several offspring when they are men. It limits them to only being able to produce one or two children.

"When they grow up, they lose their manhood and sexual urge. Britain and America are responsible for this," he added, citing rumors¹¹ in the area.

Vaccination drive

Frustration¹² that such misinformation has led children to fall sick has led government workers to try to counter the rumors during a recent three-day vaccination drive.

"We go from village to village, house-to-house, and door-to-door, giving polio drops to those children whose parents initially¹³ refused," said Arshad Khan, a vaccination worker. "Sometimes we bring them [an influential¹⁴ elder, like] a Khan, Nazim or Malik, or even try ourselves to ensure that all the children are covered."

But while health workers battle misinformation, polio continues to flourish, raising the risk of its moving beyond Pakistan's borders.

1 erase   

v.擦掉；消除某事物的痕迹

参考例句：

• He tried to erase the idea from his mind.他试图从头脑中抹掉这个想法。
• Please erase my name from the list.请把我的名字从名单上擦去。

2 hampered   

妨碍，束缚，限制( hamper的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The search was hampered by appalling weather conditions. 恶劣的天气妨碍了搜寻工作。
• So thought every harassed, hampered, respectable boy in St. Petersburg. 圣彼德堡镇的那些受折磨、受拘束的体面孩子们个个都是这么想的。

3 vaccination   

n.接种疫苗，种痘

参考例句：

• Vaccination is a preventive against smallpox.种痘是预防天花的方法。
• Doctors suggest getting a tetanus vaccination every ten years.医生建议每十年注射一次破伤风疫苗。

4 bin   

n.箱柜；vt.放入箱内；[计算机] DOS文件名:二进制目标文件

参考例句：

• He emptied several bags of rice into a bin.他把几袋米倒进大箱里。
• He threw the empty bottles in the bin.他把空瓶子扔进垃圾箱。

5 laden   

adj.装满了的；充满了的；负了重担的；苦恼的

参考例句：

• He is laden with heavy responsibility.他肩负重任。
• Dragging the fully laden boat across the sand dunes was no mean feat.将满载货物的船拖过沙丘是一件了不起的事。

6 legacy   

n.遗产，遗赠；先人(或过去)留下的东西

参考例句：

• They are the most precious cultural legacy our forefathers left.它们是我们祖先留下来的最宝贵的文化遗产。
• He thinks the legacy is a gift from the Gods.他认为这笔遗产是天赐之物。

7 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。

8 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。

9 vaccinate   

vt.给…接种疫苗；种牛痘

参考例句：

• Local health officials then can plan the best times to vaccinate people.这样，当地的卫生官员就可以安排最佳时间给人们接种疫苗。
• Doctors vaccinate us so that we do not catch smallpox.医生给我们打预防针使我们不会得天花。

10 displacement   

n.移置，取代，位移，排水量

参考例句：

• They said that time is the feeling of spatial displacement.他们说时间是空间位移的感觉。
• The displacement of all my energy into caring for the baby.我所有精力都放在了照顾宝宝上。

11 rumors   

n.传闻( rumor的名词复数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷v.传闻( rumor的第三人称单数 )；[古]名誉；咕哝；[古]喧嚷

参考例句：

• Rumors have it that the school was burned down. 有谣言说学校给烧掉了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Rumors of a revolt were afloat. 叛变的谣言四起。 来自《简明英汉词典》

12 frustration   

n.挫折，失败，失效，落空

参考例句：

• He had to fight back tears of frustration.他不得不强忍住失意的泪水。
• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration.他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。

13 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

14 influential   

adj.有影响的，有权势的

参考例句：

• He always tries to get in with the most influential people.他总是试图巴结最有影响的人物。
• He is a very influential man in the government.他在政府中是个很有影响的人物。