时间:2019-01-31 作者:英语课 分类:VOA常速英语2007年(十二月)


英语课
By Lisa Schlein
Geneva
10 December 2007


A new report finds that last year the number of children dying before their fifth birthday fell below 10 million for the first time since the United Nations has been keeping records. But, the U.N. Children's Fund, which has just launched its latest Progress For Children Study, reports much more needs to be done to improve the health and well being of children around the world. Data collected from more than 50 countries is used to monitor progress towards international goals and targets, including the Millennium 1 Development Goals. Lisa Schlein reports for VOA from Geneva.


In 1960, the report notes about 20 million children under age five were dying every year. That number has fallen to less than half. The U.N. Children's Fund attributes this to significant improvements in several key child survival interventions 2.


For example, it says all countries surveyed in sub-Saharan Africa made progress in expanding coverage 3 of insecticide-treated nets, a fundamental tool in halting malaria 4. In the 47 countries where 95 percent of measles 5 deaths occur, it says immunization coverage rose, resulting in fewer deaths.


It says rates of exclusive breastfeeding of infants have significantly improved in 16 countries of sub-Saharan Africa, leading to fewer infant deaths.


But the editor of the report, Catherine Langevin-Falcon, says there have been shortfalls in other areas. "There has been less progress in expanding treatment coverage for major childhood diseases such as pneumonia 6 and malaria, for example," she says. "Since 1990, the prevalence of under-nutrition has dropped from 32 percent to 27 percent. But, still 143 million children under five suffer from under-nutrition, more than half of them in south Asia. More than 500,000 women still die every year as a result of complications during pregnancy 7 in childbirth. About half of these deaths occur in sub-Saharan Africa."


The report notes the highest under-five mortality rates are found in countries affected 8 by conflict or in countries where HIV is widespread.


UNICEF Chief of Health and Nutrition Peter Salama says deaths can be substantially reduced by combining a range of activities, such as distributing Vitamin A during polio or measles immunization campaigns. "If you take the area of insecticide treated nets for the prevention of malaria, what we have noticed is that the best way to deliver those nets is through other programs - for example, immunization campaigns, or anti-natal tests or routine immunization," he explains. "And, that is a really important recognition that we are going to get the most bang for the buck 9 by actually putting programs together and getting mortality reduction as a consequence."


In addition to child survival, the report says progress also has been made in education, gender 10 equality and child protection. It says the number of primary-school age children who are out of school has fallen by about 20 percent and more girls are going to school than before.


The Report says the harmful practice of female genital mutilation is still unacceptably high, but has declined over the past 15 years, and child marriage is becoming less common.




n.一千年,千禧年;太平盛世
  • The whole world was counting down to the new millennium.全世界都在倒计时迎接新千年的到来。
  • We waited as the clock ticked away the last few seconds of the old millennium.我们静候着时钟滴答走过千年的最后几秒钟。
n.介入,干涉,干预( intervention的名词复数 )
  • Economic analysis of government interventions deserves detailed discussion. 政府对经济的干预应该给予充分的论述。 来自辞典例句
  • The judge's frequent interventions made a mockery of justice. 法官的屡屡干预是对正义的践踏。 来自互联网
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
n.疟疾
  • He had frequent attacks of malaria.他常患疟疾。
  • Malaria is a kind of serious malady.疟疾是一种严重的疾病。
n.麻疹,风疹,包虫病,痧子
  • 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。
n.肺炎
  • 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。
n.怀孕,怀孕期
  • Early pregnancy is often accompanied by nausea.怀孕早期常有恶心的现象。
  • Smoking during pregnancy increases the risk of miscarriage.怀孕期吸烟会增加流产的危险。
adj.不自然的,假装的
  • 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。
n.雄鹿,雄兔;v.马离地跳跃
  • The boy bent curiously to the skeleton of the buck.这个男孩好奇地弯下身去看鹿的骸骨。
  • The female deer attracts the buck with high-pitched sounds.雌鹿以尖声吸引雄鹿。
n.(生理上的)性,(名词、代词等的)性
  • French differs from English in having gender for all nouns.法语不同于英语,所有的名词都有性。
  • Women are sometimes denied opportunities solely because of their gender.妇女有时仅仅因为性别而无法获得种种机会。
学英语单词
absolute superlatives
acceptor ion
antisound
armed resistance
auron
autopiloted
Ban Bung Sai
beersley
bitt-pin
Bitumol
Brandrivier
byeelection
cargo-loading manifold
cartilago alaris minor
castelgandolfo
centimeter(-re)
Chalin
chestnut ridge
COBITIDIDAE
comb-liker
comminuted powder
composite color sync signal
crane trolley
detailed estimate
dish-wash
dynamic refraction
energy loss by per ion pair
excitation build-up
familical
fault vein
fertee
final check picture
fitch skin
fluid flow pattern
Fluorchlorapatite
forklifted
gastrophryne olivaceas
genus Galictis
get one's nose in
giant helleborines
Grimmialp
hydrogen-oil equalizing valve
hydronautics of sailing
hypericum spathulatums
Icelanders
infrared radiation from sea surface
international user class of service
ipanema
ironman
joint rotation
Kingdom of Morocco
kleinschmidt printer
knockdown tower
kressel
LE cell factor
luminescent substance
lysinonorleucine
manual backup control system
marine soap
marquezim
measured breaking force
method of spot parameter measurement
Mg-protoporphyrin
microlasers
microwave pulse radar
Middleton, Thomas
milling releasing stuck
moellemen
nerve
news agency
nontraumatic rupture of tendon
optimization procedure
orge
pay top dollar
Plimmer's salt
primeurs
rambarre
remote batch output file
rigid guide vane
Robot SSTV camera
roller nip
route investigation
screenwrite batch program
sensation area
sharksploitation
sky-crane
spiral bevel gears
stack in recursive procedure
standard contour
Sungai Tiram
Teslin R.
the honor roll
three-dimensional unit
tie-back stub liner
transvestophilia
underground transmission
union of set algebra
unnumbered command frame
vascularised
vnes
washing sand out
wodershins