1. In an African village, eleven-year-old Ajani hears a far-off scream as he washes his little sister in a bath that leaks water. (page 34)
far-off: adjective
(1) describes a time that is a long way from the present, or in the distant past or future:
some point in the far-off future
(2) describes a place that is a great distance away
as: conjunction while; during the time that:
I saw him as I was coming into the building.
He gets more attractive as he gets older.
leak: verb [I or T]
(1) (of a liquid or gas) to escape from a hole or crack in a pipe or container or (of a container) to allow liquid or gas to escape:
Water was leaking from the pipe.
Oil leaked out of the car.
The tin was leaking.
The car leaked oil all over the drive.
(2) to allow secret information to become generally known:
He leaked the names to the press.
News of the pay cuts had somehow leaked out.
2. Unprotected sex is the most common way that the virus is spread, accounting for 75 percent of adult infections worldwide. (page 34)
unprotected adjective
(1) not protected and therefore able to be harmed or damaged:
Water and other liquids can stained unprotected wood surfaces.
Although some marine mammals are protected by environmental laws, many remain unprotected.
The lack of a shell leaves the larvae unprotected against predators.
(2) unprotected sex sexual activity without a condom
common adjective the same in a lot of places or for a lot of people:
It's quite common to see couples who dress alike.
The surname 'Smith' is very common in Britain.
account for sth phrasal verb to form the total of something:
Students account for the vast majority of our customers.
3. To avoid this, some infected women seek an abortion rather than risk their child’s health. (Page 34)
avoid: verb [T] to stay away from someone or something, or prevent something from happening or not allow yourself to do something:
I try to avoid supermarkets on Saturdays - they're always so busy.
[+ ing form of verb] I try to avoid going shopping on Saturdays.
The report studiously avoided any mention of the controversial plan.
The plane narrowly avoided disaster when one of the engines cut out on take-off.
Unnecessary paperwork should be avoided at all costs.
seek: verb [T] sought, sought
(1) to try to find or get something, especially something which is not a physical object:
"Are you actively seeking jobs?" she asked.
Hundreds of dissidents are seeking refuge/asylum in the US embassy.
(2) to try or attempt:
They sought to reassure the public.
risk: verb [T]
(1) to do something although there is a chance of a bad result:
"It's dangerous to cross here." "I'll just have to risk it."
[+ ing form of verb] He risked losing his house when his company went bankrupt.
(2) If you risk something important, you cause it to be in a dangerous situation where you might lose it:
I'm not risking my life/INFORMAL neck in that old car.
He risked life and limb to get the cat down from the tree.
She was prepared to risk everything on a last throw of the dice.
4. Although many people are familiar with Aids and how it is transmitted, more than a few people subscribe to the view that HIV and Aids are an African problem because the infection rates there are very high. (Page 34)
are familiar with: 熟悉…的；通晓…的
Are you familiar with this type of car?
你熟悉这种型号的汽车吗？
Are you familiar with the rules of baseball?
你熟悉棒球规则吗?
He is familiar with that book.
他熟悉该书。
He is familiar with Chinese ancient history.
他通晓中国古代史。
Cf: be familiar to 为某人所熟悉
The street was familiar to me.
transmit： verb -tt-
（1）to pass something from one person or place to another:
a sexually transmitted disease
Cholera is transmitted through contaminated water.
Some diseases are transmitted from one generation to the next.
[R] Somehow your panic and fear transmits itself to the horse that you're riding.
（2） [I or T] to broadcast something, or to send out or carry signals using radio, television, etc:
Radio Seven transmits on 201 medium wave (= uses those particular radio waves to broadcast on).
The information is transmitted electronically to the central computer.
more than
(1) more than +数量词，表示“……以上”、“多于”
More than 500 workers were involved in strikes last month
(2) more than +形容词/副词/动词，表示“十分”，“非常”。
If you tell your father what you’ve done, he’ll be more than happy.
What he said more than disappointed me
(3) more than＋名词，表示“不仅仅”，“不只是”
Learning English is more than a newspaper; it can also help to improve our English.
(4) more than…can /could, 意思是“不能…”,表示否定意义。
The cold was more than people could bear.
高考链接：
--Do you need any help, Lucy?
--Yes. The job is _____ I could do myself. (福建2007)
A. less than B. more than C. no more than D. not more than
答案：B
subscribe to sth： phrasal verb to agree with or support an opinion, belief or theory:
Frank subscribed firmly to the belief that human kindness would overcome evil.
5. Since it was discovered in the 1980s, it has become a serious problem in many places, infecting over 60 million people worldwide. (Page 34)
infect: verb [T]
(1) to pass a disease to a person, animal or plant:
The ward was full of children infected with TB.
All the tomato plants are infected with a virus.
(2) to make someone have the same feeling or emotion as you:
Her optimism seemed to infect all those around her.
(3) to pass harmful programs from one computer to another, or within files in the same computer:
A computer virus may lurk unseen in a computer's memory, calling up and infecting each of the machine's data files in turn
6. Apart from government efforts, international help has also been very important in fighting Aids in China. (Page 35)
apart from: 除…外
All the children like music apart from Bobby.
除了博比外所有的孩子都喜欢音乐。
The writer lives apart from his family.
作家不与家人同住。
Apart from being too large, the trousers don't suit me.
这条裤子不但太大,而且我穿着也不合适。
Apart from a few words, I do not know any French at all.
除了很少的几句外,我对法语一无所知。
Test yourself:
______ being fun and good exercise, swimming is a very useful skill.
A. Except for B. Apart from C. Or rather D. in spite of
答案: B
For reference:
介词besides，except，except for，but，apart from 和 in addition to 在用法上有何区别？
besides 和 in addition to 同义，表示“除……之外(还)……”。但是，当与nothing，nobody或no one等否定意义的不定代词连用时，besides与except同义，表示“除…之外(其余都不)”。例如：
She knows Japanese besides English.
In addition to English, she knows Japanese.
All of them went to climb the mountain except me.
except 表示“除……外，(其余都)……”，常与“all，every，no，none，nothing”等含有整体肯定或否定意义的词连用。
except for： 它的宾语与前述对象完全是两回事。例如：The room was very cold and, except for Jack, entirely empty.这个房间很阴冷，而且除了杰克，完全是空荡荡的。
Except：指同一类事物的总体中除去一部分。如：He gets up early everyday except Sunday. 除星期天外，他每天早起。
Except that后面跟从句，语意与上同。如：He has always been in good health except that he has had a slight headache in the past few days. 除了在过去几天里有些头痛之外，他身体一直很好。
But：常可与 except互换，强调“不在其中”。例如：Everyone attended the meeting but Mary. 大家都出席了这次会议，但玛丽不在其列。
besides:强调“除此之外，还包括”。例如：She can speak French and Japanese besides English. 除英语外，她还会讲法语和日语。
apart from；其含义主要依据上下文而定，有时可与except换用，有时可代替besides.例如：Apart from the coat, the hat doesn't suit me. 除价钱太贵，这帽子也不适合我戴。
7. Dr David Ho, a Chinese American leading Aids expert, has devoted his body and soul to bringing up-to-date technology and international attention to China’s Aids problem. (Page 35)
devote sth to sth/sb to give all of something, especially your time, effort or love, or yourself, to something you believe in or to a person: （与to连用）献身；专心于…
He left government to devote more time to his family.
She has devoted all her energies/life to the care of homeless people.
He devoted all his time to his job.
This magazine is devoted to science.
"After he has retired, he will devote himself to gardening."
up-to-date: adjective modern, recent, or containing the latest information:
Great trouble is taken to keep our database up-to-date.
8. It is estimated that between 2000 and 2020, over 68 million people will die of Aids in the countries most affected by this epidemic. (page 35)
estimate: verb [T] to guess the cost, size, value, etc. of something:
Government sources estimate a long-term 50% increase in rail fares.
They estimate (that) the journey will take at least two weeks.
It was difficult to estimate how many trees had been destroyed.
die of: verb [I] dying, died, died to stop living or existing, either suddenly or slowly:
to die of an illness
Twelve people died in the accident.
She died of/from hunger/cancer/a heart attack/her injuries
Every winter some old people die from hypothermia.
9. Their grandfather is taking care of them, and because their mother had access to prescription. (Page 35)
access: noun [U] the method or possibility of approaching a place or person, or the right to use or look at something:
The only access to the village is by boat.
The main access to the building is at the side.
The tax inspector had/gained complete access to the company files.
The system has been designed to give the user quick and easy access to the required information.
10. He believes that educating people at risk, as well as treating infected people, is the key to stopping the disease in the future. (Page 35)
risk: noun [C or U] the possibility of something bad happening:
In this business, the risks and the rewards are high.
There's a high risk of another accident happening in this fog.
The risk we might fail made us work twice as hard.
It's always a risk starting up a new business.
The company is quite a good risk
We want clean rivers and lakes, where you can swim without risk to your health.
It's a low/high-risk strategy.
at risk 有危险 children at risk
treat: verb [T] to use drugs, exercises, etc. to cure a person of a disease or heal an injury:
He is being treated for a rare skin disease.
Western medicine tends to treat the symptoms and not the cause.
11. I saw a TV new special focused on the worldwide Aids epidemic last night. (Page 37)
focus (sth) on/upon sb/sth : to give a lot of attention to one particular person, subject or thing:
Tonight's programmer focuses on the way that homelessness affects the young.
When the kitchen is finished I'm going to focus my attention on the garden and get that sorted out.
12. Their story was so sad that I had to choke back sobs. (Page 37)
choke: verb [I or T] If you choke, or if something chokes you, you stop breathing because something is blocking your throat:
She choked to death on a fish bone.
Children can choke on peanuts.
Peanuts can choke a small child.
choke sth back If you choke back feelings or tears, you force yourself not to show how angry or upset you are:
Choking back my anger, I tried to speak calmly.
"John has had an accident, " she said, choking back the tears.
Test yourself:
1. Hearing her mean words, I stood there trembling and tying to ______ tears.
A. choke out B. choke on C. choke back D. choke up
答案：C
13. If everyone in world spent just a penny on it, we could make a really big difference! (Page 37)
make a difference 有影响，很重要; 区别对待
What you have done now will make a difference to your future.
A year or two will make a great difference to us.
Hueper made a difference between the two things.