VOA慢速英语:Researchers Say Most Deaths of Newborns Preventable

1. Later, we tell about a call for pregnant and breastfeeding mothers to make sure they are getting plenty of iodine in their diets.

make sure 把事情弄清楚，核实或查明某事物
例句：Make sure you fully get it.
确定你能完全得到这些信息。

2. But very little money is being spent on efforts to reduce that number.

spend on 把…花在…
例句：How much did you spend on that bad toupee?
你在那个劣质的假发上花了多少钱？

3. That was one of the findings of a series of papers published in the British medical journal The Lancet.

a series of 一系列; 一连串
例句：A series of tightening measures followed.
接下来是一系列收紧措施。

4. For example, the United States has about 500,000 pre-term -- or early -- births every year.

for example 例如， 譬如
例句：For example, this year we did something different.
比方说，我们今年采取了一些与众不同的方式。

5. Another good idea is to make sure the baby has skin-to-skin contact with the mother.

contact with 与…有交往
例句：Avoid close contact with birds.
避免与禽鸟有亲密接触。

6. So there's a major mismatch in what the funding is going to, compared to where the deaths are now."

compare to 把…比作， 喻为; 与…相比
例句：They have nothing to compare to.
没有东西让他们来比较。

7. More than 50 experts from 28 organizations in 17 countries took part in the research.

take part in 参加…，参与…活动
例句：To take part in your favorite activity helps self-admiration.
从事你所喜欢的活动有助于自我欣赏。

8. And simply by using the health care extension worker -- a health community worker platform that they've got -- and focusing on those newborn deaths, they've been able to bring down not just under-five mortality, but newborn death-rates as well.

bring down 降（价）; 把（某物，某人）抬下（楼、山）
例句：Family workers bring down costs.
家庭工人降低了成本。

9. The National Academy of Sciences and the American Thyroid Association say pregnant and breastfeeding women should take vitamins that have at least 150 micrograms of iodide.

at least 至少
例句：At least that's the theory.
至少理论上是这样。

10. So women should not blame themselves for giving birth to premature babies.

give birth to 生（孩子），生育; 引起，产生
例句：Though a mother give Birth to nine sons, all nine will be different 
 一娘养九子九子九个心。