VOA慢速：亚太地区仍有近5亿人口深陷贫困
燕山大学 刘立军 编写
【TRANSCRIPT】
A new report says nearly 500 million people in East Asia and Pacific Ocean countries suffer from hunger and poor nutrition.
United Nations (UN) agencies released the report on December 11. The agencies include the UN's Food and Agriculture Organization, UNICEF, the World Food Program and the World Health Organization.
Observers say the UN's aim to end world hunger by the year 2030 requires that millions of people escape food insecurity each month.
The report notes slow progress and even some failures in the areas of child wasting, stunting and other problems related to malnutrition. Worsening levels of inequality mean that earnings in Asia and the Pacific are not increasing fast enough to help ensure healthy diets for hundreds of millions living in poverty.
The report urges governments to combine efforts to end poverty with nutrition, health and education-related policies.
The UN's sustainable development goals for 2030 call for ending hunger and making sure all people have access to food year-round.
"We are not on track," said Kundhavi Kadiresan of the UN Food and Agriculture Organization. "Progress in reducing undernourishment has slowed a lot in the past few years."
More than one-fifth of all people in the Asia-Pacific area face moderate to severe food insecurity. That means they must go hungry part of the year, and in the worst cases, go days without eating.
The UN agencies' report says more than half of the 479 million in the area who do not get enough to eat live in South Asia. More than one-third of all children there suffer from chronic malnutrition, said the report.
In India, nearly 21 percent of children suffer from wasting, a more severe form of malnutrition.
Michael Samson is research director of the Economic Policy Research Institute. He spoke earlier this month at the report's release in Bangkok. Samson said that failing to ensure children are well fed endangers their future development, especially their mental abilities.
He added: "Investing in the first 1,000 days (of a child's life) is the most important investment you can make in future productivity."
Some governments in Southeast Asia have begun enacting policies aimed at ending poor nutrition in children and mothers. Thailand has provided aid that has helped improve the health and diets of families with young children.
In Myanmar, experimental programs in the Chin state are being expanded to other parts of the country.
Cambodia is expanding a program that the U.S. Agency for International Development helped to set up. The program is called NOURISH. It provides help for poor pregnant women and families during the first 1,000 days of a baby's life.
Laura Cardinal directed the program. She says there was a nearly 20% decrease in developmental issues and improvement in children's diets in areas where NOURISH operated.
I'm Jonathan Evans.
【VOCABULARY】
1. escape v. escape (from sth) to get away from an unpleasant or dangerous situation （从不愉快或危险处境中）逃脱，摆脱，逃避。用法：
① (单独使用的动词) 例如：She managed to escape from the burning car. 她设法从燃烧的汽车里逃了出来。
② (动词 + 名词短语) 例如：They were glad to have escaped the clutches of winter for another year.他们很高兴又一年躲过了寒冬的魔爪。
③ (无被动态) to avoid sth unpleasant or dangerous 避开，避免（不愉快或危险的事物）
(动词 + 名词短语) 例如：
- She was lucky to escape punishment. 她逃脱惩罚真是幸运。
- The pilot escaped death by seconds. 这位飞行员数秒之内死里逃生。
- There was no escaping the fact that he was overweight. 他身体超重这一事实是无法回避的。
④ (动词 + -ing短语) 例如：He narrowly escaped being killed. 他险些丧命。
2. stunt v. (动词 + 名词短语) to prevent sb/sth from growing or developing as much as they/it should 阻碍生长；妨碍发展；遏制。例如：
- The constant winds had stunted the growth of plants and bushes. 老是刮风，花草、灌木长不大。
- His illness had not stunted his creativity. 疾病没有扼杀他的创造力。
3. malnutrition n. (不可数名词) a poor condition of health caused by a lack of food or a lack of the right type of food 营养不良
4. chronic adj. (especially of a disease 尤指疾病) lasting for a long time; difficult to cure or get rid of 长期的；慢性的；难以治愈（或根除）的。例如：
- chronic bronchitis/arthritis/asthma慢性支气管炎 / 关节炎 / 哮喘
- the country's chronic unemployment problem该国长期存在的失业问题
- a chronic shortage of housing in rural areas农村地区住房的长期匮乏
5. wasting adj. a wasting disease or illness is one that causes sb to gradually become weaker and thinner （指疾病）消耗性的，使消瘦的，使虚弱的, 文中指消耗性的疾病。
6. enact v. 制定（法律）
【QUESTIONS】
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and check the true (T) or false (F) statements.
1. A new report says nearly 500 million people in Southeast Asia and Pacific Ocean countries suffer from hunger and poor nutrition.
2. Observers say the UN's aim to end world hunger by the year 2030 requires that millions of people escape food insecurity each year.
3. The report notes slow progress and even some failures in the areas of child wasting, stunting and other problems related to malnutrition.
4. The report urges governments to combine efforts to end poverty with nutrition, health and education-related policies.
5. The UN's sustainable development goals for 2030 call for ending hunger and making sure all poor people have access to food year-round.
6. More than one-fiftieth of all people in the Asia-Pacific area face moderate to severe food insecurity.
7. The UN agencies' report says more than half of the 479 million in the area who do not get enough to eat live in South Asia.
8. More than one-third of all children in South Asia suffer from chronic malnutrition.
9. In India, nearly 21 percent of children suffer from wasting.
10. Some governments in East Asia have begun enacting policies aimed at ending poor nutrition in children and mothers.
11. Thailand has provided aid that has helped improve the health and diets of families with young children.
12. In Myanmar, experimental programs in the Chin state are being expanded to other parts of the country.
13. Cambodia is expanding a program, which provides help for poor pregnant women and families during the first 1,000 days of a baby's life.
【KEY】
Read the statements. Then listen to the news and check the true (T) or false (F) statements.
(F) 1. A new report says nearly 500 million people in Southeast Asia and Pacific Ocean countries suffer from hunger and poor nutrition.(正确表达) A new report says nearly 500 million people in East Asia and Pacific Ocean countries suffer from hunger and poor nutrition.
(F) 2. Observers say the UN's aim to end world hunger by the year 2030 requires that millions of people escape food insecurity each year.(正确表达) Observers say the UN's aim to end world hunger by the year 2030 requires that millions of people escape food insecurity each month.
(T) 3. The report notes slow progress and even some failures in the areas of child wasting, stunting and other problems related to malnutrition.
(T) 4. The report urges governments to combine efforts to end poverty with nutrition, health and education-related policies.
(F) 5. The UN's sustainable development goals for 2030 call for ending hunger and making sure all poor people have access to food year-round.(正确表达)The UN's sustainable development goals for 2030 call for ending hunger and making sure all people have access to food year-round.
(F) 6.More than one-fiftieth of all people in the Asia-Pacific area face moderate to severe food insecurity.(正确表达) More than one-fifth of all people in the Asia-Pacific area face moderate to severe food insecurity.
(T) 7. The UN agencies' report says more than half of the 479 million in the area who do not get enough to eat live in South Asia.
(T) 8. More than one-third of all children in South Asia suffer from chronic malnutrition.
(T) 9. In India, nearly 21 percent of children suffer from wasting.
(F) 10. Some governments in East Asia have begun enacting policies aimed at ending poor nutrition in children and mothers.(正确表达)Some governments in Southeast Asia have begun enacting policies aimed at ending poor nutrition in children and mothers.
(T) 11. Thailand has provided aid that has helped improve the health and diets of families with young children.
(T) 12. In Myanmar, experimental programs in the Chin state are being expanded to other parts of the country.
(T) 13. Cambodia is expanding a program, which provides help for poor pregnant women and families during the first 1,000 days of a baby's life.