VOA慢速英语:In US, an Epidemic of Prescription Drug Abuse

短语讲解：

1. More than thirty-six thousand people died from drug overdoses in two thousand eight, the latest year available.

die from死于
例句：In a severe winter, wild animals can die from lack of food.
在寒冷的冬天, 野兽可能因为缺乏食物而饿死。

2. These include drugs like methadone; morphine; hydrocodone, also known as Vicodin; and oxycodone, or OxyContin.

known as被认为是，被称为
例句：Radio, television, newspapers and magazines are known as the mass media.
广播、电视、报纸和杂志被称为大众传媒。

3. The Obama administration released a plan last year to try to deal with the problem.

deal with应付, 处理; 对待
例句：He must deal with many difficulties.
他必须应付许多困难。

4. So I also used Vicodin as something to, you know, get my engine going and carry me through the day.

carry through帮助…渡过难关; 完成
例句：Their faith and courage carried them through.
他们的信心和勇气使他们渡过了难关。

5. And then my Xanax would, you know, balance me out and bring me down and relax me.

balance out相抵，平衡；抵消
例句：We wish that the figures for income and costs balance out.
我们希望收入和花费的数字正好相抵。
bring down沮丧，使垂头丧气，使愁苦，使消沉，使泄气，使情绪低落
例句：The bad news of my wife's accident really brought me down.
我妻子出事故的坏消息真使我感到沮丧。

6. For instance, in nineteen ninety-nine, the big problem was methamphetamine.

for instance例如, 比如
例句：You cannot rely on her; for instance, she arrived an hour late for an important meeting yesterday.
她这人靠不住, 例如昨天一个重要会议, 她迟到了一个小时。

7. And more and more over the years we began to see people being addicted to prescription drugs.

be addicted to沉迷于
例句：He was addicted to heroin at the age of 17.
他17岁的时候对海洛因上了瘾。