Welcome to the Voice of America's “News Words”.
欢迎收看美国之音“新闻词汇”。
Listen to this report about the Ebola virus in Africa.
请听这则关于非洲埃博拉病毒的报道。
The speaker is American Ambassador Linda Thomas-Greenfield.
讲话人是美国大使琳达·托马斯·格林菲尔德。
She is talking about two African leaders who could not come to Washington for talks.
她谈及了两个未能到华盛顿参加会谈的非洲领导人。
We understand what they are doing and why they had to make the tough decision not to come to Washington, but to stay at home and address this critical problem.
我们理解他们的做法以及为什么他们做出这个艰难决定，选择不到华盛顿，而是在国内发表关于这一重要问题的演讲。
The word “critical” has several different meanings.
这个词有几个不同含义。

In our story, critical means very serious or important.
在我们的报道中，它的意思是严重的，重要的。
Critical can also mean a turning point for something.
它也可以表示一件事情的转折点。
For example, a battle could be a critical point in a war, when one side takes the lead.
比如，当其中一方占优势时，某场战役可能在战争中是一个紧要的节点。
Now, when you hear the word “critical”, you will know what this News Word means.
现在，当你听到“重要的”这个词的时候，你就会知道这个新闻词汇的意思了。