时间:2019-01-30 作者:英语课 分类:自然探索


英语课
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51 非洲沙尘暴正威胁人类生存环境


DATE=8-3-01
TITLE=ENVIRONMENT REPORT - African Dust Storms
BYLINE=Cynthia Kirk


(Start at 59" )This is the VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT.
Researchers in the United States say (1)dust clouds from dry African (2)deserts may be a threat to the environment and human health. They say the dust may (3)contain many small (4)organisms 1 that could be dangerous to some people.
Each year, huge dust storms form in the Sahara and the Sahel deserts of northern Africa.  Winds carry the dust across the Atlantic Ocean. The movement of dust across the Atlantic Ocean has been increasing in recent years because of longer periods without rain in Africa. 
From February to April, the dust settles in South America. From June to October, the winds change and (5)transport the dust to North America, Central America and the Caribbean. The dust clouds travel several thousand meters above sea level.  It takes five to seven days for the dust to cross the Atlantic Ocean.
Researchers have long known that the dust clouds could travel long distances. But they thought few microorganisms could (6)survive the trip because of damaging (7)ultraviolet (8)radiation from the sun.  Researchers now believe that the dust clouds block enough of the light to protect viruses, (9)bacteria and (10)fungi 2 in the dust. 
Researchers say these microorganisms may be a health risk to some people. About half of the bacteria and fungi that survive the trip from Africa are known to cause disease 3 in people, animals or plants.
More than half of the dust that reaches the United States settles in the state of Florida. For many years, it has caused the skies there to turn red. Now researchers say there may be a link between the dust storms and increased health risks in Florida. They believe the dust causes higher rates of (11)asthma, (12)allergies and other breathing problems in people there. The dust also has been linked to a large increase in (13)lung problems in at least one Caribbean nation. 
Last year, American scientists published a study showing that the African dust is causing (14)coral (15)reef damage in the Caribbean. They identified organisms in the dust particles 4 that cause coral diseases 5.
Scientists at the United States Geological 6 Survey reported the latest findings 7. They used satellites from NASA, the United States space agency 8, to carry out their work.
This VOA Special English ENVIRONMENT REPORT was written by Cynthia Kirk.



(1)  dust [ dQst ]n.灰尘, 尘土, 尘埃vt.掸掉...上的灰尘, 撒糖于糕上
(2)  desert [ di5zE:t ]n.沙漠, 应得的赏罚, 功过adj.沙漠的, 不毛的, 荒凉的vt.放弃, 遗弃, 逃跑vi.逃掉, 逃亡, 开小差
(3) contain [ kEn5tein ]vt.包含, 容纳, 容忍vi.自制v.[军]牵制(敌军)v.[数]可被...除尽
(4) organism [ 5C:^EnizEm ]n.生物体, 有机体
(5) transport [ trAns5pC:t ]n.传送器, 运输, 运输机, 激动, 流放犯, 狂喜vt.传送, 运输, 流放, 放逐
(6) survive [ sE5vaiv ]v.幸免于, 幸存, 生还
(7) ultraviolet [ 5QltrE5vaiElit ]adj.紫外线的, 紫外的n.紫外线辐射
(8) radiation [ 7reidi5eiFEn ]n.发散, 发光, 发热, 辐射, 放射, 放射线, 放射物
(9) bacteria [ bAk5tiEriE ]n.细菌
(10) fungi [‘fQn^ai] n. 真菌类(包括霉菌,食用伞菌,酵母菌等),似真菌的,由真菌引起的
(11) asthma [ 5AsmE ]n.[医]哮喘
(12) allergy [ 5AlEdVi ]n.[医]敏感症, <口>反感
(13) lung [ lQN ]n.肺, 呼吸器, 肺脏
(14) coral [ 5kCrEl ]n.珊瑚, 珊瑚虫
(15) reef [ ri:f ]n.暗礁, 收帆v.收(帆)



n.有机物( organism的名词复数 );有机体;生物;有机体系
  • The organisms can be divided into discrete categories. 有机体可分为许多互不相联的种类。
  • The cell is the unit of which all living organisms are composed. 细胞是构成一切生物的单位。
n.真菌,霉菌
  • Students practice to apply the study of genetics to multicellular plants and fungi.学生们练习把基因学应用到多细胞植物和真菌中。
  • The lawn was covered with fungi.草地上到处都是蘑菇。
n.疾病,弊端
  • The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
  • He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。
微粒( particle的名词复数 ); 颗粒; 极少量; 小品词
  • These small particles agglomerate together to form larger clusters. 这些颗粒聚结形成较大的团。
  • The nucleus of an atom consists of neutrons, protons and other particles. 原子核由中子、质子和其他粒子构成。
n.疾病( disease的名词复数 );弊端;恶疾;痼疾
  • Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
  • The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。
adj.地质(学)的
  • aeons of geological history 数以亿万年计的地质史
  • The workers skirted the edge of the cliff on a geological survey. 工人们沿着崖壁作了一次地质勘察。 来自《简明英汉词典》
n.发现物( finding的名词复数 );调查(或研究)的结果;(陪审团的)裁决
  • It behoves us to study these findings carefully. 我们理应认真研究这些发现。
  • Their findings have been widely disseminated . 他们的研究成果已经广为传播。
n.经办;代理;代理处
  • This disease is spread through the agency of insects.这种疾病是通过昆虫媒介传播的。
  • He spoke in the person of Xinhua News Agency.他代表新华社讲话。
学英语单词
aligning key of octal base
all-purpose meter
applied regression analysis
Archer City
balance staff
Ban Poua
bankroller
beet haulage
bitel
cauterization therapy
cepha-loparasitus
cue
delayed time-base sweep
diffractometric
dikaryotic cells
distributed communications
duazomycin
enclosed bus-bar
error-detection system
exchange depreciation
family rooms
fernndez
Fifth-Monarchy Men
fluxes
forlornness
freeing
general service hose
giraffoids
graphics program architecture
gratulating
Hallian stage
hegus
high sulfate-resistant cement
homeliest
homesick
impervious sheathed wire
in one's favour
infinity
isotopes
j-e-t-s
kitchell
Kvalsund
Këlcyrë
latching button
least-time track
lime sinter process
maximum thrust
mending slip
monopolize all the batons and guns
multijunctional
naumburg
network with earth-connected neutral
nitrification process
no, thank you
nonpolarity
off-budget year
one pipe system
papoose root
path coverage testing
peak forward-blocking voltage
penaloza
phytobacterial
pinion-and-rack steering gear
PLLV
pointer type
polycarbonate
polyisoprenol
Port sniffing
potyvirus sweet potato latent virus
prosuspensor cell
residual type
return-flow type oil atomizer
right vector space
roaring business
rostral filament
s/i (signal to interference ratio)
sabina
second-year
slich
smooth someone's path
solid lubricants
somopsychosis
sonar equations
speed test
Spitzka's nucleus
stereopair image
surface conduit wire
survival wind speed (deprecated)
telex division
terminal port
three-phase oil immersed transformer
Tripogon filiformis
u interface
Ulysses S Grant
undeviled
unrepulsable
Unstructured Supplementary Service Data
walking encyclopedia
wipeable
wire-rod rolls
X-ray radiometer