Fatima Bushin was losing her sight and was scared. She said what worried her most wasn’t the fear of a long, painful journey to blindness. She feared being unable to feed her family because blindness would keep her from working, as mothers do. The tragedy is that Bushin’s condition was preventable and, if caught in time, stoppable. She was among thousands of women in Tanzania who suffered from trachoma (沙眼), an infectious disease affecting largely poor communities in developing countries. Trachoma is one of neglected tropical diseases, or NTDs, so named because they receive less attention than other tropical diseases.
All NTDs can be controlled or cured entirely with known public health approaches and interventions. Improved sanitation (环境卫生), medicines and medical procedures have produced truly remarkable results in preventing and controlling NTDs, including trachoma, in some of the world’s poorest communities. Preventing, controlling and curing these diseases puts out poverty’s fire at its base.
We know it can be done. Through long-term efforts, several of these NTDs have been stamped out in some countries such as Laos. To wipe out extreme poverty around the world. many countries continue to invest in what is one of the most successful foreign assistance programs. For example, U.S. Agency for International Development programs to combat NTDs have reached nearly 300 million people affected by diseases that can spoil the patients’ appearance or weaken the patients physically.
For Bushin, the story ends well. Through foreign assistance program, she was able to lave the surgery needed to treat trachoma and save her eyesight. The surgery is relatively simple, performed in an hour at an outpatient clinic, and costs less than $300. In return, Bushin avoided a lifelong disability that would have recondemned her family to poverty with little hope for escape.
Jan. 30 marks the World NTD Day, a day that global public health experts say is needed to focus attention on the fight against tropical diseases. The success of the global fight against NTDs is good news for millions of people. It has been life-changing for a mother in Tanzania who continues to be able to provide for her family thanks to the constant efforts being made that kept her family out of poverty by saving her eyesight.
12. What was the greatest concern of Bushin?
A.The possible loss of her eyesight. |
B.The slim chance of getting rid of poverty. |
C.The potential inability to support her family. |
D.The deliberate neglect of her by her parents. |
13. What does the underlined part “stamped out” in Paragraph 3 most probably mean?
A.Caught. | B.Removed. | C.Tracked. | D.Analyzed. |
14. In what tone does the author describe the treatment of NTDs?
A.Critical. | B.Regretful. | C.Humorous. | D.Positive. |
15. What can we infer from the text?
A.NTDs could be cured earlier than expected. |
B.Poverty and disease tend to be largely connected. |
C.Infectious diseases will be the biggest global issue. |
D.International cooperation is a must for treating a disease. |