节目资讯
刊物:空中英語教室
日期:2012-02-02
难易度:High
关键字:advancement, positive, priority, HIV-positive, anti-, medication
(Music).
Hi, everybody.
Welcome to Studio Classroom Worldwide.
Thanks for joining us today.
My name is Steve.
And with us today is Kaylah.
Hi, Kaylah.
Hello, Steve.
Glad to see you again today.
Oh, thank you so much.
It's great to be there.
Well, today we're going to have something to think about.
Right now there are about three million children in the world living with AIDS.
Most of these children become infected through their HIV-positive mothers.
In other words, they were born with the disease.
The good news is that mother-to-child transmission of HIV is almost completely
avoidable.
It's just a matter of purchasing and getting medication to the pregnant moms who
are infected.
So while victories in our war against AIDS might make us overly optimistic, the
war is far from over.
So let's open our magazines to page 13 and talk a little more about some success
stories,
and then touch on some of the remaining challenges in our battle against this
disease.
Stop the Spread of AIDS.
Over the last 31 years, the war against AIDS has seen some success.
Advancements in drug treatments have allowed HIV-positive people to lead longer
and healthier lives.
Recently, anti-HIV drugs have been shown to prevent healthy people from becoming
infected.
In addition, prevention programs worldwide have influenced people's behavior,
with the rate of new infections decreasing by nearly 20 percent over the last
decade.
Many challenges remain.
Despite these successes, more than 7,000 new HIV infections occur every day
globally - more than half involving people under the age of 25.
Hello, friends.
Thank you for joining us in the studio.
My name is Ryan.
And I am Kaylah.
And today we are talking more about Stopping the Spread of AIDS.
Now AIDS is a big problem and affects a lot of the world.
Ryan, have you or your friends been exposed to AIDS?
Have you been affected by what AIDS can do to people you... you know?
Well, I... I do know one person who has AIDS, but he hasn't told me very much.
I don't know much about it.
Well, that's a good point.
Today we're learning about how we can stop the spread of AIDS.
But we can't really know how to stop it if we don't know exactly what it is.
So that's what we're working on.
Exactly. Now yesterday we saw a lot of ways to avoid getting the disease.
But now today we're going to look at some treatments or ways to improve the
lives of those who have it.
Well, there's good news.
Over the last 31 years, the war against AIDS has seen some great successes.
Now that's wonderful because we need to be progressing.
Exactly. Now we call this "the war against AIDS;" and it really is a war.
It has spread very quickly.
We saw that within five years of its discovery, AIDS had spread and become a
global concern.
Well, now 31 years later, advancements in drug treatments have allowed
HIV-positive people to lead longer and healthier lives.
Now there's a lot in that sentence, Ryan.
What does it mean to be HIV-positive?
I thought this was a negative thing.
Yeah. It is a very negative thing, friends.
But if someone is "HIV-positive," that doesn't mean that it's good.
If you're HIV-positive, it means you have HIV.
OK. So there's been "advancements." That means we are moving forward.
We have learned a lot.
We have gathered information that can help people.
Yeah. An advancement is basically an improvement.
And so we have improved the way that we are treating people with HIV, and now
they have healthier lives.
And we definitely want to be offering healthier lifestyles to all kinds of
people.
Well, recently, this is good news... recently, anti-HIV drugs have been shown to
prevent healthy people from becoming infected.
Now that's impressive. These anti-HIV drugs can do such an incredible thing.
Exactly. Now something that is "anti-" something else means it is opposed to or
against it.
So this drug, like it says, prevents people from getting infected with HIV.
That's right. It is against HIV. It is anti-HIV.
Now this is wonderful.
In addition, prevention programs worldwide have been influencing people's
behavior.
Now that's wonderful because there's only so much, Ryan, that we can do with
drugs.
We do need to have these drugs; they definitely help. But having people being
aware is so... so important.
Yes, people need to be educated on how to avoid becoming infected with HIV, and
eventually, AIDS.
And so it's very good that these prevention programs are influencing people to
do that.
That's right. We see they're worldwide too.
That means they're not just in one country at a time.
This is a global virus.
This is a global problem, so it is a global fix that we are working on.
Right. And they've lowered the rate of new infections by 20 percent over the
last decade.
That's pretty impressive.
Over 10 years, 20 percent of new infections have been lowered.
That is absolutely incredible.
But this is wonderful, this is great, but there're still a lot of challenges
ahead.
When a challenge remains, that means it is still here. There's a lot we still
need to do.
Right. And so of course there has been a lot of success, but there are still
more than 7,000 new HIV infections every day.
Now that's really sad.
7,000 every day! That is a lot of people being affected every moment.
Well, globally, more than half of the people involved or being affected by this
disease are under the age of 25.
Yeah. So that means a lot of young people are not properly educated.
They are going out there having unprotected sex and getting HIV.
They need to learn how to avoid it.
Well, we're going to learn how we can help educate them and educate ourselves
after the break.
But let's join them in the Chat Room.
So, Ken, did you finish that article about AIDS you were reading yesterday?
Yes, I did.
But I had a question for you.
It used the phrase "the war against AIDS." Is that a common phrase?
Yes. It compares the difficulties involved in treating and preventing AIDS to
the difficulties involved in winning a long war.
Actually, there are a lot of other phrases that compare significant problems to
war.
Hmm. Can you give me some examples?
Sure. People talk about the war on drugs, the war on crime and the war on
poverty.
In fact, I've even heard people mentioned the war on obesity.
Obesity? That just means being fat, right?
Not just being fat, but being so fat to the point of being unhealthy.
Oh, I see.
So you can compare a social issue to a war when it is a large problem and
affects a lot of people, and the government or society as a whole takes action.
OK, that makes sense.
I also remember reading an interview with someone who talked about his battle
with drug addiction.
Is that the same idea?
Kind of.
The point is that they are working very hard to overcome a challenge just like
being in a battle.
But the difference is that when we compare something to a battle, it's usually
dealing with a personal problem.
But when we talk about a war on something, it's a larger society-wide issue.
Oh. So the war on drug addiction refers to all of the efforts made by government
and other organizations to prevent drug addiction in the society,
but a battle with drug addiction is one person's effort to stop using drugs?
You got it, Ken.
And in these instances, you can use "battle" as a verb too.
You could say the man was battling drug addiction.
I see. You know, these phrases will certainly be useful if I keep reading
articles about serious social issues.
Hey, thanks for teaching them to me.
You're welcome, Ken.