1. The reason behind it—longer lifespans—is to be cheered; it does not advance at the speed of a viral infection but with the ponderous inevitability of demographic change
- Dementia n. 痴呆
a usually progressive condition (such as Alzheimer's disease) marked by the development of multiple cognitive deficits (such as memory impairment, aphasia, and the inability to plan and initiate complex behavior)
- Ponderous adj. 沉重的
of very great weight
Ponder v.
to weigh in the mind
//pondered their chances of success
2. Even now, more people live with it than can be looked after humanely. No cure is in the offing. And no society has devised a sustainable way to provide and pay for the care that people with it will need
- in the offing
likely to happen soon
//A promotion might be in the offing for him.
- Devise v.
to form in the mind by new combinations or applications of ideas or principles : INVENT//devise a new strategy
3. “Dementia” is an umbrella term for a range of conditions, with a variety of causes, of which the most common is Alzheimer’s disease, accounting for 60-80% of cases.
- an umbrella term 总括性的说法
4. Many require round-the-clock care long before they die. It does not just affect the elderly, but they are much more likely to have it—and life expectancy globally has climbed from not much more than 30 a century ago to over 70 now, and over 80 in rich countries.
- round-the-clock care 全天候看护
//The dedicated Doerflein has slept in the zoo since Knut was born in order to provide round-the-clock care.
5. As families shrink, single children and grandchildren will struggle to cope with their old folk. Already, dementia care has had a knock-on effect on general health care.
- Family shrink 家庭小型化
- Knock-on effect 连锁反应
something (such as a process, action, or event) that causes other things to happen
//The drought is likely to have a knock-on effect throughout the whole economy.
6. And America’s Food and Drug Adminisration has promised to decide by March 2021 whether to license a drug said to be the first to stem cognitive decline in Alzheimer’s patients.
- Stem v. 根除
to remove the stem from
7. in 2013, for example, when David Cameron, then Britain’s prime minister, used the rotating chairmanship of the g8 to convene a “dementia summit”, which promised to fund research with the goal of finding a “disease-modifying treatment” by 2025.
- Convene v. 召集，召开(正式会议)
to cause to assemble
//A world council was convened in Paris.
SUMMON, CALL, CITE, CONVOKE, CONVENE, MUSTER mean to demand the presence of.
SUMMON implies the exercise of authority. //was summoned to answer charges
CALL may be used less formally for SUMMON. //called the legislature into special session
CITE implies a summoning to court usually to answer a charge. //cited for drunken driving
CONVOKE implies a summons to assemble for deliberative or legislative purposes. //convoked a Vatican councilCONVENE is somewhat less formal than CONVOKE. //convened the students
MUSTER suggests a calling up of a number of things that form a group in order that they may be exhibited, displayed, or utilized as a whole. //mustered the troops
- rotating chairmanship 轮值主席
8. Japan’s compulsory long-term-care insurance scheme, requiring everyone aged 40-65 to pay a premium, seems attractive, as it avoids penalising the young. But it is not self-financing. The increasing burden there as elsewhere will fall on individuals and the taxpayer.
- “介护保险”:在日本，其《介护保险法》规定，凡是40岁以上的人都被强制要求缴纳介护保险费，当被保险者在需要被介护的时候，就可以得到及时妥善的介护服务。
- self-financing 自负盈亏
Firm or project that generates its growth capital from its own income, instead of acquiring it from external sources such as investors or lenders.
9. The trouble is that public-health campaigns have a patchy record and they do nothing for dementia’s most intractable pre- existing condition—old age.
- Patchy adj. 零散的; 散落的
marked by, consisting of, or diversified with patches
- Do nothing for
to not improve or enhance in any way
//This sauce does nothing for these vegetables.
- Intractable adj. 很难对付(或处理)的;
not easily governed, managed, or directed
//Sepsis, which is what happens to the body when an infection goes bad, is one of mankind's oldest and most intractable foes.
10. perhaps that is enough to make you throw up your hands in despair. Instead, however, it only underlines how the solutions to dementia, like the disease itself, will take decades to unfold.
- Throw up one's hands 投降
to admit defeat
- Unfold v. 显露
to open to the view,especially : to make clear by gradual disclosure and often by recital
//The facts started to unfold before them.