88 科学家正在研制治愈老年痴呆症的药品
SCIENCE REPORT - August 30, 2001: Testing Possible Treatments for CJDBy Nancy Steinbach
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Science Report.
American scientists say that two drugs have shown to be effective against the (1)protein thought to cause the deadly (2)brain condition Creutzfeldt-Jakob disease, or CJD.
CJD causes holes to develop in the brain. It is rare, and cannot be cured. It usually affects people sixty-five years old or older. More than one-hundred people in Europe have died or are dying from it. Most of the (3)victims live in Britain.
These victims (4)suffer a kind of CJD linked to the cattle sickness known as Mad Cow Disease. Its real name is (5)bovine (6)spongiform (7)encephalopathy, or BSE. Scientists believe that eating infected beef from a cow suffering BSE is one cause of CJD. The (8)infectious proteins are thought to damage healthy proteins and cause holes in the brain.
The American researchers reported the results of their recent work in "The Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences". The researchers are from the University of California at San Francisco. They say their research shows that two drugs can clear the infectious proteins from mouse brain cells.
The drugs are (9)quinacrine and chlorpromazine. Quinacrine was used in the Nineteen-Forties to treat malaria. (10)Chlorpromazine is used to treat the mental disorder (11)schizophrenia. Quinacrine appears to be more effective in stopping the deadly protein activity. However, chlorpromazine crosses more easily into the brain.
The researchers in San Francisco already have treated two CJD patients with the drugs. One patient is British. The other patient is American. The results are not clear, although a British newspaper has reported improvement in one of the patients.
The researchers are preparing to test the drugs in more people to see if they are effective against CJD. This process will begin next month. The patients will go to the university hospital for two weeks of treatment with one or both drugs. They will continue taking the drugs for another six months at home.
The study will try to find the correct amount of each drug to use. And it will measure how much of each drug gets into the patients' brains. The treatment will be considered successful if patients (12)survive longer and are able to take part in daily activities of normal living.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by Nancy Steinbach.
(1) protein[?????????? ]n.[生化]蛋白质adj.蛋白质的
(2) brain[?????? ]n.脑, 头脑
(3) victim[?????????]n.受害人, 牺牲者, 牺牲品
(4) suffer[ ????? ]vt.遭受, 经历, 忍受vi.受痛苦, 受损害
(5) bovine[ ???????? ]adj.迟钝的, 牛的, 似牛的, 耐心的
(6) spongiform[????????????? ]adj.海绵状(组织)的,与海绵同类的
(7) encephalopathy[??????????????]n.[医]脑病
(8) infectious[?????????? ]adj.有传染性的, 易传染的, 有感染力的
(9) quinacrine[ ?????????????]n.[药]奎纳克林,阿的平(一种抗疟药)
(10) chlorpromazine[ ?????????????? ]n.[药]氯丙嗪, 冬眠硫磷
(11) schizophrenia[ ??????????????? ]n.[心]精神分裂症
(12) survive[???????? ]v.幸免于, 幸存, 生还
89 黑热病正在世界范围内迅速蔓延
DEVELOPMENT REPORT ?September 3, 2001: Leishmaniasis DiseaseBy Jill Moss
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Development Report.
Health experts are growing concerned about the rise in (1)leishmaniasis (LEASH-ma-NIGH-a-sis) disease around the world. (2)Currently, the World Health Organization estimates twelve-million people are (3)infected with the disease. However, experts say that number is low because leishmaniasis has spread during the past ten years. They say that three-hundred-fifty million people in eighty-eight countries may be at risk of being infected. Leishmaniasis is caused by tiny organisms called (4)parasites. Small insects called sand flies spread the disease.
Barbara Herwaldt is a health expert at the Centers for Disease Control in the United States. She says there are two major forms of leishmaniasis. The (5)visceral form affects (6)organs in the body. It can cause death if not treated quickly. Signs of visceral leishmaniasis include high body temperature, weight loss, a swelling of the liver and (7)spleen and blood problems.
Another kind of leishmaniasis is called (8)cutaneous, or skin-related. It causes serious wounds on the face, arms and legs.
Although leishmaniasis is found in almost ninety countries, the majority of cases are in just a few countries. Most victims of visceral leishmaniasis are in (9)Bangladesh, Brazil, India, (10)Nepal and Sudan. The majority of skin-related cases are in (11)Afghanistan, Brazil, Iran, Peru, Saudi Arabia and Syria.
Health experts say public knowledge of leishmaniasis has been lacking. In addition, only thirty-two countries affected by the disease currently report their cases. Health experts believe only six-hundred-thousand cases are officially reported of an estimated two-million new cases each year.
The ability to treat leishmaniasis differs around the world. Tests to identify the disease may be difficult to perform. Health experts are also concerned about a lack of money for treatments. Because of these problems, they say researchers need to develop a vaccine medicine to prevent the disease. Experts say a vaccine is becoming even more urgent as AIDS and H-I-V cases increase around the world. They say leishmaniasis increases the rate at which AIDS develops. And the number of people with both diseases is increasing in many areas of the world.
This VOA Special English Development Report was written by Jill Moss.
(1) leishmaniasis[ ?????????????? ]n.[医] 利什曼病(尤指黑热病)
(2) currently[????????I]adv.普遍地, 通常地, 现在, 当前
(3) infect[???????? ]vt.[医] 传染, 感染
(4) parasite[?????????? ]n.寄生虫, 食客
(5) visceral[????????? ]adj.内脏的, 影响内脏的
(6) organ[??????? ]n.[机]元件, 机构, 机关, 机关报[乐]风琴, 管风琴, 嗓音[生物]器官
(7) spleen[ ?????? ]n.脾
(8) cutaneous[ ???????????????]adj.皮肤的, 影响皮肤的
(9) Bangladesh[????????????? ]孟加拉国[亚洲]
(10) Nepal[?????????]n.尼泊尔(亚洲国家)
(11) Afghanistan[???????????? ]n.阿富汗(西南亚国家)
90 消化系统摄影仪通过政府审批
SCIENCE REPORT ?September 5, 2001: Digestive System CameraBy George Grow
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English Science Report.
The American government has (1)approved a (2)device that lets doctors see detailed (3)images from inside the human body.
The Food and Drug Administration approved marketing of a device as small as a medicine (4)pill. The patient swallows the device. It contains a very small (5)video camera. It travels through the (6)stomach, small (7)intestine and large intestine. The camera sends color images to a special receiver worn by the patient. The body expels the camera with its wastes. Later, the doctor downloads the images from the receiver to see them on a computer.
The product is called the Given (8)Diagnostic Imaging System. An Israeli company, Given Imaging Limited, developed the unusual device. The company has offices in the United States, Australia and Germany.
Currently, doctors use a method called (9)endoscopy to provide images of the small intestines. An endoscope is a long thin tube with a small camera on the end. Doctors use endoscopy to identify growths, cancer and causes of bleeding. Doctors place the endoscope down a patient's throat to look at the small intestine.
However, endoscopes are not able to reach all the way through the small intestine because the organ is six meters long. The F-D-A says the new device takes pictures of the (10)entire small intestine. It helps doctors see areas in the small intestine that endoscopes cannot reach.
The Given Diagnostic Imaging System contains a camera, lights, a (11)transmitter and power supply. The power supply has an expected life of eight hours. That generally is long enough to take pictures of the small intestine, but not the large intestine.
F-D-A officials say the device was tested in twenty patients who had signs of disorders of the small intestine. Officials say the device discovered intestinal problems in twelve patients. A traditional endoscope found problems in only seven of the patients. A combination of different tests (12)identified fourteen problems in thirteen of the twenty patients.
The Food and Drug Administration says the Given Diagnostic Imaging System is safe and has no side effects. It approved the device for use along with other methods to examine the small intestines. The device was not tested in the large intestine.
This VOA Special English Science Report was written by George Grow.
(1) approve[???????? ]vi.赞成, 满意vt.批准, 通过v.批准
(2) device[???????? ]n.装置, 设计, 图案, 策略, 发明物, 设备[计]安装设备驱动程序
(3) image[ ?????? ]n.图象, 肖像, 偶像, 形象化的比喻, 极为相象, 映像, 典型vt.想象, 作...的像, 反映, 象征
(4) pill[???? ]n.药丸, 口服避孕药, 弹丸
(5) video camera n.摄影机
(6) stomach[ ??????? ]n.胃, 胃口, 胃部v.容忍
(7) intestine[?????????? ]adj.内部的, 国内的n.[解, 动]肠
(8) diagnostic[?????????????? ]adj.诊断的
(9) endoscopy[ ?????????? ]n.内窥镜检查法
(10) entire[???????? ]adj.全部的, 完整的, 整个
(11) transmitter[??????????? ]n.转送者, 传达人, 传导物, 发报机, 话筒, 发射机, 让渡者
(12) identify[???????????? ]vt.识别, 鉴别, 把...和...看成一样v.确定
91 记忆衰退从年轻时即已开始
SCIENCE REPORT September 6, 2001: Failing MemoryBy George Grow
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT.
It is common for older people to forget things. Now an American study has found that (1)memory starts to fail when we are young adults. People younger than thirty years of age usually do not know that they are starting to forget information. But scientists from the University of Michigan in Ann Arbor say the loss of memory usually has already started.
Researchers say people do not (2)observe this slow reduction in (3)mental ability until the loss affects their everyday activities.
Denise Park led the new study. She directs the Center for Aging and (4)Cognition at the Institute for Social Research at the University of Michigan. Her team studied more than three-hundred-fifty men and women between the ages of twenty and ninety years. The study (5)identified people in their middle twenties with memory problems.
She says young adults do not know they are forgetting things because their brains have more information than they need.
But she says that people in their twenties and thirties are losing memory at the same rate as people in their sixties and seventies.
Mizz Park says people between the ages of sixty and seventy may note the decrease in their mental abilities. They begin to observe that they are having more trouble remembering and learning new information.
The study found that older adults are more likely to remember false information as being true. For example, they remembered false medical claims as being true. Younger people remembered hearing the information. But they were more likely to remember that is was (6)false.
Mizz Park is now using modern (7)imaging (8)equipment to study what happens in the brains of people of different ages. She is studying what parts of the brain older adults use for different activities compared to younger adults. Mizz Park says mental (9)performance is a direct result of brain activity and brain (10)structure. She says keeping the brain active is important. She says older people should take part in activities that keep their brain active. These include being a member of a book-reading club, seeing and (11)discussing plays and (12)concerts and playing games that use the mind. She hopes future studies will identify ways to improve the operation of our aging minds.
This VOA Special English SCIENCE REPORT was written by George Grow.
(1) memory[???????? ]n.记忆, 记忆力, 回忆, 存储(器), 存储器存储器,内
(2) observe[???????? ]vt.观察, 观测, 遵守, 评述, 说
(3) mental[ ?????? ]adj.精神的, 智力的
(4) cognition[???????????]n.认识
(5) identify[?????????????]vt.识别, 鉴别, 把...和...看成一样v.确定
(6) false[ ????? ]adj.错误的, 虚伪的, 假的, 无信义的, 伪造的, 人工的, 不老实的adv.欺诈
(7) image[??????? ]n.图象, 肖像, 偶像, 形象化的比喻, 极为相象, 映像, 典型vt.想象, 作...的像, 反映, 象征
(8) equipment[??????????? ]n.装备, 设备, 器材, 装置, 铁道车辆, (一企业除房地产以外的)固定资产, 才能
(9) performance[ ?????????? ]n.履行, 执行, 成绩, 性能, 表演, 演奏
(10) structure[?????????? ]n.结构, 构造, 建筑物vt.建筑, 构成, 组织
(11) discuss[???????? ]vt.讨论, 论述
(12) concert[ ??????? ]n.音乐会, 一致
92 注意街头食品的卫生
DEVELOPMENT REPORT September 10, 2001: Street Food SafetyBy George Grow
（Start at 1'01"） This is Bill White with the VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT.
Street food is food that is prepared, sold and eaten on city streets. Street food is an important part of the (1)diets of people in developing countries. An (2)estimated two-thousand-five-hundred-million people (3)worldwide eat street food. This kind of food is low in cost, tasty, (4)nutritious and easy to serve. It is designed for the lives of busy people in large cities.
But buyers must be careful about health risks. Studies have repeatedly found unacceptably high levels of harmful bacteria in street food products. Recently, the United Nations Food and (5)Agriculture Organization reported on the problem.
Street food sellers in developing countries often lack the storage, cooking and cooling equipment necessary to prevent the formation of dangerous (6)bacteria. Under some conditions, a single bacterium can grow into seventeen-million disease-carrying organisms in just eight hours. The lack of clean running water and waste (7)removal systems also increases the risk of (8)infection.
The Food and Agriculture Organization is leading an effort to make street food safer. Over the past fifteen years, it has helped officials improve street food in more than twenty cities worldwide.
For example, F-A-O officials have been working with the South African government on such a project. The U-N agency produced a food safety teaching guide for public health officials. The guide offers suggestions on how to prepare food safely. A (9)videotape shows how producing safe food results in increased business. The F-A-O also helped publish books that food inspectors will use to educate people who sell street food.
One F-A-O official says the project in South Africa has been so successful that officials in other African countries would like to copy it.
F-A-O officials and officials in Senegal have begun to (10)improve the safety of street food businesses in Dakar. A new market area is being built for the city. Businesses in the area will have waste (11)removal services and fresh water. Food sellers are being taught to keep cooked food away from uncooked food. The sellers also have been (12)urged not to prepare and sell food when they are sick.
One F-A-O official notes that sellers of street food products welcome the advice. She says they recognize that buyers will come back if they believe in the safety of the products.
This VOA Special English DEVELOPMENT REPORT was written by George Grow.
(1) diet[ ?????? ]n.通常所吃的食物, 会议
(2) estimate[ ????????? ]v.估计, 估价, 评估n.估计, 估价, 评估
(3) worldwide[?????????????????]adj.全世界的
(4) nutritious[???????????? ]adj.有营养成分的, 营养的
(5) agriculture[ ??????????? ]n.农业, 农艺, 农学
(6) bacteria[??????????? ]n.细菌
(7) removal[ ????????? ]n.移动, 免职, 切除
(8) infection[?????????? ]n.[医] 传染, 传染病, 影响, 感染
(9) videotape n. 录像带
(10) improve[ ???????? ]v.改善, 改进
(11) removal[ ????????? ]n.移动, 免职, 切除
(12) urge[ ???? ]vt.催促, 力劝n.强烈欲望, 迫切要求v.促进
