78 非洲睡眠病在撒哈拉沙漠南部国家猖獗蔓延
DATE=8-6-01
TITLE=DEVELOPMENT REPORT - African Sleeping Sickness
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
（Startat 59")this is the voa special english Developement report.
African Sleeping Sickness is once again threatening many countries south of the Sahara Desert.
The disease is caused by the (1)trypanosome (2)parasite. The parasite enters the human body through the bite of the (3)tsetse fly. Doctors say it takes very few parasites to (4)infect a person. If the infection is not treated, a person's defense system cannot destroy the parasite, and the person dies.
Sleeping sickness has been affecting people in Africa for thousands of years. It is found only in African tsetse flies. Researchers do not know why tsetse flies carry the disease in Africa, but not in other parts of the world.
Sleeping sickness has been a major problem in Africa two other times in the past century. The disease was almost destroyed in the Nineteen-Sixties, but has since returned. The (5)World Health Organization says twenty to fifty percent of people suffer the disease in some villages in Angola, Sudan and the (6)Democratic Republic of Congo.
About forty-five-thousand sleeping sickness infections are reported to the W-H-O every year. But officials say as many as four-hundred-thousand people probably (7)suffer from the disease each year.
Medical (8)experts say early treatment can cure African Sleeping Sickness. But it is difficult to tell if a person has the disease. Early signs include high body temperature, muscle pain and a tired feeling. The signs become worse later when the parasite (9)invades the brain. Then the (10)victim acts strangely or sleeps all day. Treating sleeping sickness is costly. The drug used to treat the early signs of the disease is also used to kill a parasite that affects some people with the disease (11)AIDS. This has increased its price. The drug used in more severe Sleeping Sickness infections is a poison that can kill up to ten percent of the patients who use it. A safer medicine had stopped being produced recently. However, the W-H-O negotiated an agreement with a drug company to provide all the medicines to treat sleeping sickness free of charge.
Sleeping sickness experts say more people in Africa should be examined for the disease. They also say that leaders of affected countries must improve national health care systems to prevent the disease.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.
(1) trypanosome [????'???????] n. [动]锥体虫
(2) parasite [????????] n. 寄生虫, 食客
(3) tsetse [?????] n. [昆]舌蝇,采采蝇
(4) infect [??'????] vt. [医] 传染, 感染
(5) World Health Organization 世界卫生组织
(6) Democratic Republic of Congo 刚果民主主义共和国
(7) suffer [????] vt. 遭受, 经历, 忍受; vi. 受痛苦, 受损害
(8) expert [????:t] n. 专家, 行家, [军](特等)射手
(9) invade [??'????] vt. 侵略, 侵袭, 拥挤
(10) victim [??????] n. 受害人, 牺牲者, 牺牲品
(11) AIDS [????] abbr. 爱滋病, 获得性免疫功能丧失;
79 如何提取骆驼奶制作乳酪
DATE=8-7-01
TITLE=AGRICULTURE REPORT - Cheese from Camels
BYLINE=George Grow
（Start at 59"This is Bill White with the VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT.
(1)Camels have carried people and their goods for centuries. However, camels do more than provide transportation across deserts.
People in desert areas use camel hair to make (2)rugs, (3)temporary housing and clothes. They burn the solid waste from the animals for (4)fuel. People also use camels for meat and milk in areas where growing food is difficult.
However, camel milk is rarely made into cheese, a food made from the milk of other animals. One reason is that camel milk is more difficult to (5)curdle or thicken than other kinds of milk. The United Nations Food and Agriculture Organization is helping people solve the problem.
The main goal in cheese-making is to get the milk to form curds and whey. Curd is a soft (6)substance made from treated milk. The curd contains a liquid called (7)whey. The whey must be (8)expelled from the curd before cheese is made.
Modern cheese-making methods help the curdling process by adding a bacterial substance or starter. The starter produces (9)lactic acid and (10)rennet, a substance from cows that contains a special (11)enzyme. The enzyme speeds up the separation of liquids and solids. Camel milk is different from other kinds of milk because traditional rennet does not affect it.
F-A-O officials say fifty percent of camel milk is wasted in some cultures because people use it only as a fresh drink. They say making cheese is a way to save milk and create a product for use in trade.
Several years ago, the F-A-O ordered a study of the problem. J.P. Ramet is a French agricultural expert. Mister Ramet carried out experiments in Saudi Arabia and Tunisia. He found a way to curdle camel milk by adding the chemical (12)calcium (13)phosphate and vegetable rennet.
The next step was to see how camel cheese production might work. In Nineteen-Ninety-Four, the F-A-O began assisting a milk production center in (14)Mauritania with camel cheese production. F-A-O officials provided technical help and machinery. The milk center successfully produced camel cheese. However, many Mauritanians are not used to eating cheese. So only small amounts of the camel cheese are being sold in Mauritania’s capital.
F-A-O officials believe the technology for making camel cheese could help many people in desert areas.
This VOA Special English AGRICULTURE REPORT was written by George Grow.
(1) camel [‘???(?)?] n. 骆驼, [船](打捞用的)浮筒
(2) rug [???] n. (小)地毯, 垫子
(3) temporary [‘?????????] adj. 暂时的, 临时的, 临时性
(4) fuel [???:??]n. 燃料; vt. 加燃料, 供以燃料; vi. 得到燃料
(5) curdle [‘?:dl] v. 凝固
(6) substance [‘????????] n. 物质, 实质, 主旨
(7) whey [???] n. 乳清, 乳水
(8) expel [???’???] v. 驱逐, 开除, 排出, 发射
(9) lactic [‘??????] adj. 乳的, 乳汁的
(10) rennet [‘?????] n. 牛犊胃内膜, 法国产的一种苹果
(11) enzyme [‘??????] n. [生化]酶
(12) calcium [‘???????] n. [化]钙(元素符号Ca)
(13) phosphate [‘???????] n. 磷酸盐
(14) mauritania [????’??????] n. [史]毛利塔尼亚(北非古国)
80 雌性荷尔蒙不能缓解心脏病发作
DATE=8-9-01
TITLE=SCIENCE REPORT- Female Hormones and Heart Disease
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
（Start at 59"）This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Science Report.
The American Heart (1)Association has changed its advice about older women and female (2)hormones. The organization now says healthy older women should not take the hormones to (3)prevent heart disease. And it says women with heart disease also should not take the hormones. The association says there is growing evidence that the hormones may not help and might even cause harm.
Many older women take (4)estrogen and (5)progesterone to replace the hormones that their bodies no longer produce. This is called hormone replacement (6)therapy. The hormones can ease the physical changes taking place in the body. They strengthen the bones and protect against the disease (7)osteoporosis. They also ease feelings of extreme heat that older women sometimes experience.
The hormones also were thought to prevent heart disease in women. The American Heart Association had advised that all women with heart disease should consider taking estrogen.
Now, however, the Heart Association says women should not take the hormones to prevent heart attacks and strokes. New research is showing that the hormones might increase the chances that women with heart disease will suffer these problems.
The Heart Association announced its new decision in its publication, "Circulation." The decision was based on a four-year study of women with heart disease. In the first year, women taking the hormones had fifty-two percent more heart-related illnesses than those taking an inactive substance. The researchers also found a greater number of women in the hormone group suffered blood (8)clots and (9)gall (10)bladder disease.
A similar result was seen in a fifteen-year study that involves more than twenty-seven-thousand women. After four years, the researchers found a small increase in the number of heart attacks and (11)strokes among healthy women taking hormones.
About twenty-million women in the United States take hormone replacement therapy. There has been much debate about whether older women should take the hormones. Research also has shown that taking the hormones for more than five years can increase some women's chances of developing breast cancer and (12)ovarian cancer.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.
(1) association [??????'????] n. 协会, 联合, 结交, 联想
(2) hormone [??:????] n. 荷尔蒙, 激素
(3) prevent [???'????] v. 防止, 预防
(4) estrogen [?:??????(?)?] n. [生化]雌激素
(5) progesterone [????'??????????] n. [生化]孕酮, 黄体酮
(6) therapy [??????] n. 治疗
(7) osteoporosis [????????'??????] n. 骨质疏松症
(8) clot [????] n. (血液等的)凝块
(9) gall [??:?] n. 胆汁, 恶毒, 怨恨, 五倍子, 苦味, 磨伤(尤指马的),
(10) bladder [?????] n. 膀胱, 气泡, 球胆
(11) stroke [??????] n. 击, 敲, 报时的钟声, (网球等)一击, (划船等)一划,
(12) ovarian [??'???????] adj. [植]子房的, [解]卵巢的
81 一年轻妇女死于药品试验
DATE=8-11-01
TITLE=IN THE NEWS #493 - Testing of Drugs
BYLINE=Nancy Steinbach
（Start at 1'05"）This is Steve Ember with the VOA Special English program IN THE NEWS.
Earlier this summer, a young woman in Baltimore, Maryland died as a result of taking part in a medical study.
The study was designed to learn how people with healthy lungs and people who have the breathing problem, (1)asthma, (2)react to (3)particles or substances. The medical researchers at Johns Hopkins University had a number of healthy people breathe into their lungs a (4)drug called hexamethonium. Twenty-four year old Ellen Roche was one of the nine people who agreed to take part in the study. She died on June second as a result of (5)inhaling the drug.
In July, the federal government criticized the university's system that is (6)supposed to protect people involved in such studies. An (7)investigation found that the researchers failed to consider information about the possible harmful effects of the drug on the lungs. The people who took part in the study were never told that the drug is not (8)approved for human use. And they were not warned about possible dangers.
Government officials decided to require stronger controls over the two-thousand other medical studies being done at Johns Hopkins. Some of these studies are different from the one that included Mrs. Roche. That study gave a drug to healthy people. Other studies test a drug to see if it can effectively treat or (9)cure a disease. These studies are called (10)clinical (11)trials.
People involved in clinical trials are those who suffer the disease the drug is designed to treat. The scientists divide them into two groups. One group gets the drug being tested. The second group gets an inactive substance. Neither the scientists nor the people involved know who is getting what. The researchers follow both groups to see what effect the drug has on the disease.
People who (12)volunteer to be part of a clinical trial usually do so because they want the new drug. They hope it will improve their health. Yet scientists say there is no way to make sure this will be the result. The drug may help. But it could make their condition worse. Or the volunteers may be in the group that gets the inactive substance.
Medical researchers carry out such (13)experiments at universities and medical schools all over the world. They say that such studies must be carefully controlled to make sure they are (14)generally safe. And they warn people considering taking part in such studies to ask questions of the researchers about the possible dangers.
Many researchers say they (15)believe that volunteers in clinical trials are protected as well as they can be. Reports say that about sixty thousand clinical trials are carried out each year. Only a small number have problems. Most medical researchers say the risks of such tests are the only way to make progress against disease.
This VOA Special English program, IN THE NEWS, was written by Nancy Steinbach. This is Steve Ember.
(1) asthma [????] n. [医]哮喘
(2) react [??'???] vi. 起反应, 起作用, 反抗, 起反作用
(3) particle [???????] n. 粒子, 点, 极小量, 微粒, 质点, 小品词, 语气
(4) drug [???g] n. 药, 麻药, 麻醉药, 滞销货
(5) inhale [??'????] vt. 吸入; vi. 吸气
(6) suppose [s?'p??z] vt. 推想, 假设, 猜想; vi. 料想
(7) investigation [???????'????????] n. 调查, 研究
(8) approve [?'?????] vi. 赞成, 满意; vt. 批准, 通过; v. 批准
(9) cure [k???] v. 治愈, 治疗; n. 治愈, 痊愈
(10) clinical [???????] adj. 临床的, 病房用的
(11) trial [??????] n. 试验, 考验, 审讯, 审判
(12) volunteer [v?l?n'???] n. 志愿者, 志愿兵; adj. 志愿的, 义务的, 无偿的; v. 自愿
(13) experiment [??'?????????] n. 实验, 试验; vi. 进行实验, 做试验
(14) generally [d?en?r?li] adv. 一般, 通常, 一般地
(15) believe [??'????] v. 有坚定的宗教信仰的, 相信, 信任, 认为, 想
