节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-01
难易度:High
关键字:pneumonia, symptom, immune system, AIDS, HIV
(Music).
Hello, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
And my name is Kaylah.
Well, we're going to kick off this month with a rather serious high-level lesson
about the disease AIDS.
While it's true we often see AIDS in the news, I think many of us don't actually
know much about it.
Perhaps one reason why is because talking about AIDS is difficult and can make
us uncomfortable.
Right. But because AIDS is such a widespread public health problem and because
it's so misunderstood, we thought an article about it would be appropriate.
So just how big of a problem is AIDS?
Well, to give us some perspective, Steve, every minute, somewhere in the world 5
people die from AIDS while 9 others become infected.
Keep that in mind as we head into today's reading on page 12.
(Music).
Stop the Spread of AIDS.
Despite great progress, the fight against this disease is far from over.
On June 5, 1981, the public first learned of a disease that soon became known as
AIDS.
The U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) released a report
describing five men with a rare type of pneumonia.
Two of the men had died.
Health workers were alarmed when other seemingly healthy young men developed
similar symptoms.
Scientists later realized that a virus had weakened the men's immune systems,
allowing the sickness to attack.
In 1984, scientists identified this virus and called it HIV.
Most people who contract the virus but do not receive treatment will develop the
condition known as AIDS within 10 years.
Hello, everyone.
Thank you so much for joining us.
My name is Ryan.
And I'm Kaylah.
And today we're talking about a serious topic.
Now usually at Studio Classroom, we don't talk about something maybe this scary,
but it is important to understand this disease.
Today we're talking about AIDS.
Yes. We're looking at our HEALTH article.
And our HEALTH article today is all about stopping the spread of AIDS.
Now first, Kaylah, let's talk about what AIDS is.
OK. Well, to define "AIDS," we should know that it is actually an acronym.
And that means we have taken the first letter from each word to create a new
word.
Now "AIDS" stands for acquired immune deficiency syndrome.
But in English, we just call it AIDS.
Right. We just call it AIDS.
And it is a very serious disease, so we definitely want to stop it.
Now there have been... there has been great progress in the fight against AIDS,
but, Kaylah, it's far from over.
That's right.
Even though despite the progress, we still have a fight ahead of us.
There's still a lot to learn and a lot to do as we fight AIDS.
OK. Now let's take a look at the history of this disease.
We see it started on June 5, 1981, and they first learned that this disease
became known as AIDS.
That's right. On June 5, 1981, was the first time the public saw it.
It was unknown until then.
Well, and the United States, the Center for Disease Control and Prevention, the
CDC, released a report describing five men with a rare type of pneumonia.
OK. Now a pneumonia... or "pneumonia" is the name of another kind of illness.
It's a very serious illness that infects your lungs and can prevent you from
being able to breathe.
Now pneumonia is pretty common; we do see it often.
But in modern technology, people don't often die from it.
But two of these men had died from pneumonia.
Yeah. Now Kaylah, this was a rare kind of pneumonia.
And that means it's not very common.
And so two men here had already died.
Like you said, that doesn't usually happen.
That's right. It doesn't happen.
And in 1981, it did; and it brought to light this problem.
Well, health workers were alarmed.
They were aware and it kind of scared them, which makes sense, you know,
when they... when these seemingly young men developed similar symptoms.
Yeah. OK.
So "seemingly similar young men" is referring to men that are similar,
or seem the same as these other two men that had died; and they began getting
symptoms too.
Now Kaylah, let's talk about a symptom.
OK. The "symptoms" are what we see from a cause.
So when we're talking about a disease, maybe you have a cold, a symptom of a
cold is when you have a cough or you're sneezing or your nose is running.
So there are symptoms, there are things we see that this disease can cause.
OK. So now scientists later realized that this virus weakened the men's immune
systems.
And an "immune system" is the part of your body that helps fight against
diseases.
And it's very important because we need our immune system to fight all sickness
around us.
Well, it weakens the men's immune systems allowing this sickness to attack.
OK. So they didn't have as strong... of an immune system, and so they were able
to get sick much easier.
Then in 1984, scientists then identified the virus, and they called it HIV.
Now "HIV" stands for human immunodeficiency virus.
And this is the virus that later turns into AIDS.
Well, most people who contract the virus but do not receive treatment will
develop the condition known as AIDS within 10 years.
So it's important to have treatments.
Yeah. So you're right, Kaylah.
This is a very serious topic because HIV is becoming more and more common.
And now after the break, we're going to see exactly how we can begin to fight
against the spread of AIDS and HIV.
Before we go, let's visit the Chat Room.
Hey, Ken. What are you reading?
Oh, I'm reading an article about AIDS.
It's really sad.
Did you know that most people who contract the HIV virus but don't receive
treatment develop AIDS within 10 years?
Oh, that is sad.
But Ken, I think you meant to say "contract," not contract.
Oh. What's the difference?
A contract is a formal agreement between two people or groups.
For example, most employees have a contract with the company that hire them.
Right. I know that word.
What about "contract"?
To contract a disease is to catch it or to become sick.
So contract is a noun, and contract is a verb.
That's right.
So can I use "contract" anytime I want to say someone caught a disease?
More or less.
I think Studio Classroom Editor-in-Chief Doris has a more thorough explanation
for us.
Oh, OK.
To catch a cold and to contract a disease have similar meanings.
But contract is more formal and implies that the disease is more serious.
Most people would say that they caught a cold, not that they contracted one
since colds are usually not life-threatening.
But we would say that someone contracted a more serious disease, like malaria or
tuberculosis.
I see.
Hey, Bryan, I've also heard people talk about "coming down with" a cold or some
other sickness.
Does that mean the same as catching or contracting something?
Yes. "Come down with something" is a phrase that means to catch a sickness.
Got it!
Well, I really feel sorry for all the people in this article who are at risk of
developing AIDS.
But thanks for helping me learn how to talk about it.
Sure thing, Ken.