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2007年VOA标准英语-Son of Late 9/11 Rescue Worker Advocates Expand

时间:2007-05-18 06:16:01

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(单词翻译)

By Barbara Schoetzau
New York
31 January 2007

Caesar Borja Jr.'s dream came true Wednesday. The college student met privately1 with President George Bush to make the case for expanded health care coverage2 for all workers at the World Trade Center site. Borja's father, a New York City police officer, died waiting for a lung transplant last week. From VOA's New York Bureau, correspondent Barbara Schoetzau has the story. 

Ceasar Borja answers questions during a news interview as his mother, Eva, sister and brother, look outside funeral home, 25 Jan 2007
Caesar Borja Jr. answers questions during a news interview as his mother, Eva, sister and brother, look outside funeral home, 25 Jan 2007
Borja, 21, believes his father's pulmonary fibrosis was directly linked to the months he spent working at the World Trade Center site after the terrorist attack.  Borja believes his father should have received the same burial as police officers who die in the line of duty.

The student at New York's Hunter College has become the human face of a campaign for more federal funding to treat people exposed to toxins3 at the World Trade Center site.

Borja says he and his family were honored to meet the president, but he would not reveal any of Mr. Bush's comments during the private meeting. Borja says he told the president funding should be expanded to include all responders at the site and downtown residents and should include state of the art medical equipment and the latest drugs.

"I expressed how the funding should be expanded not for just the heroes and heroines, but also those that live in residency around the area," he said.  "There are children there and people who rushed to get the city of New York up and running shortly after 9/11 occurred so that our economy would not fail, those businesses from the Mom and Pop pizza shops, bagel stores to Wall Street, from the bottom to the top, to help everyone should they be suffering from any World Trade Center-related illness that they also be taken care of and paid for completely by the federal government."

A study of 1,100 of the more than 11,000 responders and volunteers at the site found that 40 percent had persistent4 lower respiratory symptoms, such as shortness of breath and dry coughs, while 50 percent experienced upper respiratory symptoms, including congestion5, ear pain and sore throats.  About 51 percent had mental health problems.

Borja has become the symbol of the issue. Just two hours after his father died, Borja attended the President's State of the Union address as the guest of New York Senator Hillary Clinton. Tuesday the Bush administration announced it would propose an additional $25 million to fund 9/11 health care programs, but health care advocates say as much a $2 billion may be needed in the long term.


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点击收听单词发音收听单词发音  

1 privately IkpzwT     
adv.以私人的身份,悄悄地,私下地
参考例句:
  • Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
  • The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。
2 coverage nvwz7v     
n.报导,保险范围,保险额,范围,覆盖
参考例句:
  • There's little coverage of foreign news in the newspaper.报纸上几乎没有国外新闻报道。
  • This is an insurance policy with extensive coverage.这是一项承保范围广泛的保险。
3 toxins 18c3f40d432ba8dc33bad8fb82873ea8     
n.毒素( toxin的名词复数 )
参考例句:
  • The seas have been used as a receptacle for a range of industrial toxins. 海洋成了各种有毒工业废料的大容器。
  • Most toxins are naturally excreted from the body. 大部分毒素被自然排出体外。 来自《简明英汉词典》
4 persistent BSUzg     
adj.坚持不懈的,执意的;持续的
参考例句:
  • Albert had a persistent headache that lasted for three days.艾伯特连续头痛了三天。
  • She felt embarrassed by his persistent attentions.他不时地向她大献殷勤,使她很难为情。
5 congestion pYmy3     
n.阻塞,消化不良
参考例句:
  • The congestion in the city gets even worse during the summer.夏天城市交通阻塞尤为严重。
  • Parking near the school causes severe traffic congestion.在学校附近泊车会引起严重的交通堵塞。

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