标题：Why life expectancy in America is down again?
Overall life expectancy in America fell fractionally in 2017
life expectancy 预期寿命
fractionally adv.微小地；极少地
造句：Could you just move a fraction to the right?
a fractional increase
Underlying the drop was a bad year for influenza and a slight increase in the toll of Alzheimer's disease.
underlie v. 是...的深层原因
造句：Psychological problems very often underlie physical disorders.
toll (死亡、事故或灾难的)总数
influenza 流感 （flu）
overdose n. 过量服药 an overdose of sleeping pills
The figures make dramatic reading. In 1999, suicide took the lives of 10.5 Americans out of every 100,000.
in the intervening years
surged from 6.1 to 21.7
make (for) adj. reading （文字、数据等）读起来怎么样
造句：The story made for interesting reading.
take (sb's) life 杀死某人 take one's own life 自杀
intervening 发生于其间的
surge v.激增，徒增，剧烈上升
historical / historic high 历史新高
But drug-overdose rates, which were well below five per 100,000 people between 1950 and 1990, climbed above that rate by the turn of the century, and then spiked dramatically, reaching above 20 deaths per 100,000 people in 2017.
the turn of sth. 转变时期；转折点
三个“上升”比较：
climb （广义上的）上升 = raise
surge 陡然上升
spike 通常指在下跌前上升至非常高
... points to the importance of public health efforts to control the opioid epidemic.
The recent experience of Dayton, Ohio backs him up: over the past year, opioid deaths have more than halved.
point to 指出（重要性）
opioid epidemic 阿片类药物过量，比如：吗啡
epidemic 疾病的流行 a gun epidemic, the gun epidemic
halve v.减半
back sb up 支持某人，为某人作证
Medicaid （美国面向穷人的）医疗补助制度
new legislation made it through Congress
... and help rein in the over-prescription of opioids
make it through ... 通过，熬过，挺过难关
rein in 抑制，控制
over-prescription （没有必要的）开药过量
