2019年经济学人 詹姆斯·沃森:遗传性障碍 (1)

 

James watson, Nobel laureate and co-discoverer with Francis Crick of the structure of DNA¹,

诺贝尔奖得主、和弗朗西斯·克里克共同发现NDA双螺旋结构的詹姆斯·沃森

has never deemed it necessary to hold in what he thinks, no matter how controversial.

从不认为有必要约束自己的想法，不论这些想法有多么的具有争议性。

It would be acceptable to abort² a fetus³, he has said, if it carried genes⁴ that might mean the resulting adult was gay.

堕胎是可以接受的，他表示，如果这个胎儿携带的基因意味着它成年后会成为同性恋的话。

He has suggested there is a link between sunlight and libido⁵,

在一次学术演讲中，他暗示阳光和性欲之间有联系，

once telling a lecture hall that this explains why there are "Latin lovers" but only "English patients".

这也解释了为什么会有“拉丁爱人”之说，却只有“英国病人”的说法。

Women in laboratories made it more fun for the men, he said, but they are probably less effective than the men.

实验室中的女性让男人觉得更有趣，他说，但是她们可能没有男性高效。

These dubious⁶ statements have not prevented Dr Watson, who delights in being a free thinker and agent provocateur,

这些可疑的言论并没有阻止乐于成为自由思想者和卧底的沃森博士

from holding the position among the world's scientific elite⁷ that he and Crick acquired when they published their historic discovery in 1953, when he was just 25.

稳坐世界科学精英的位子，1953年，在他刚25岁的时候，他和克里克获得了这个头衔，当时他们发表了他们历史性的发现。

Now, at the age of 90, he may, at last, have lost it.

现在90岁的他或许最终还是失去了这个头衔。

In a documentary aired recently on the Public Broadcasting Service (PBS) in the United States, "American Masters: Decoding⁸ Watson",

在最近在美国公共电视网PBS播出的纪录片《美国大师：解密沃森》中

Dr Watson re-stated his view that black people are less intelligent than white, because of their genetics.

沃森博士重述了他的观点：由于基因差异，黑人不如白人聪明。

Scientists everywhere condemned¹⁰ his comments. Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory on Long Island, New York,

世界各地的科学家们谴责了他的观点。纽约长岛的冷泉港实验室

to which he has been affiliated¹¹ for more than 60 years, immediately stripped him of his remaining links, including his honorary title of Chancellor¹² Emeritus¹³.

（他附属该实验室60余年）立即切断了和沃森之间的任何联系，包括撤销其名誉校长的荣誉头衔

Dr Watson's comments, they said, were "reprehensible¹⁴, unsupported by science...the laboratory condemns¹⁵ the misuse¹⁶ of science to justify¹⁷ prejudice."

他们表示沃森博士的言论是“应受到斥责的、不被科学界所支持的...研究室谴责了这种为证明偏见而滥用科学的行为。”

The defenestration has been a long time coming.

愤怒由来已久。

Dr Watson had already been forced to leave active duty at Cold Spring Harbor

沃森博士已经被迫离开了泉港实验室，不再行使行政职责

after he told a British newspaper in 2007 that he was "inherently gloomy about the prospect¹⁸ of Africa

此前在2007年，他告诉一家英国报纸，他“对非洲的前景不乐观

because all our social policies are based on the fact that their intelligence is the same as ours, whereas all the testing says, not really."

因为我们所有的社会政策都假定他们的智力水平和我们一样，但是所有的测试表明并非如此。”

Although he wished everyone were equal, he said, "people who have to deal with black employees find this not true."

虽然他希望人人平等，他表示，“和黑人员工打交道的人发现不是这样的。”

Though Dr Watson apologised for his comments at the time, his reputation suffered a big shock.

虽然沃森博士那时为自己的言论道歉，但他的名声受到了重击。

In the recent PBS film Dr Watson was asked if his views on links between race and intelligence had changed since 2007.

在近期的PBS电影中，沃森博士被问到，2007年，他关于种族和智商的观点是否有所改变。

"No, not at all," he said, in an apparent reversal of his earlier apology.

“不，完全没有，”他回答，这明显和他早期的道歉相违背。

"I would like for them to have changed, that there be new knowledge that says that your nurture¹⁹ is much more important than nature.

“我希望他们有所改变，有新的知识表明，你的教养比遗传重要得多。

But I haven't seen any knowledge. And there's a difference on the average between blacks and whites on IQ tests.

但我没有看到这方面的任何知识。在智商测试中，黑人和白人的平均水平是不同的。

I would say the difference is, it's genetic⁹.'' He adds that he takes no pleasure in "the difference between blacks and whites" and wishes it didn't exist.

我想说的区别是，它是遗传的。”他还说道他对“黑人和白人之间的差别”不感兴趣，并希望它不存在。

1 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

2 abort   

v.使流产，堕胎；中止；中止(工作、计划等)

参考例句：

• The captain instructed them to abort the mission.上尉指示他们中止执行任务。
• With this button the user can abort the audio sequence.用户可以用该按钮终止音频序列。

3 fetus   

n.胎，胎儿

参考例句：

• In the fetus,blood cells are formed in different sites at different ages.胎儿的血细胞在不同时期生成在不同的部位。
• No one knows why a fetus is not automatically rejected by the mother's immune system. 没有人知道为什么母亲的免疫系统不会自动排斥胎儿。

4 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

5 libido   

n.本能的冲动

参考例句：

• Lack of sleep is a major factor in loss of libido.睡眠不足是导致性欲丧失的一个主要因素。
• Ginseng can increase energy and libido,which can help solve intimacy problems.人参可以增加活力和性欲，从而帮助解决亲密关系的问题。

6 dubious   

adj.怀疑的，无把握的；有问题的，靠不住的

参考例句：

• What he said yesterday was dubious.他昨天说的话很含糊。
• He uses some dubious shifts to get money.他用一些可疑的手段去赚钱。

7 elite   

n.精英阶层；实力集团；adj.杰出的，卓越的

参考例句：

• The power elite inside the government is controlling foreign policy.政府内部的一群握有实权的精英控制着对外政策。
• We have a political elite in this country.我们国家有一群政治精英。

8 decoding   

n.译码，解码v.译（码），解（码）( decode的现在分词 )；分析及译解电子信号

参考例句：

• We cannot add any other memory to this system without further decoding. 如果不增加译码，就不能使系统的存贮容量有任何扩展。 来自辞典例句
• Examples using the 8250 will be presented in hardware section to clarify full-decoding schemes. 在硬件一节中有应用说明全译码方案8250的例子。 来自辞典例句

9 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

10 condemned   

adj. 被责难的, 被宣告有罪的 动词condemn的过去式和过去分词

参考例句：

• He condemned the hypocrisy of those politicians who do one thing and say another. 他谴责了那些说一套做一套的政客的虚伪。
• The policy has been condemned as a regressive step. 这项政策被认为是一种倒退而受到谴责。

11 affiliated   

adj. 附属的, 有关连的

参考例句：

• The hospital is affiliated with the local university. 这家医院附属于当地大学。
• All affiliated members can vote. 所有隶属成员都有投票权。

12 chancellor   

n.(英)大臣；法官；(德、奥)总理；大学校长

参考例句：

• They submitted their reports to the Chancellor yesterday.他们昨天向财政大臣递交了报告。
• He was regarded as the most successful Chancellor of modern times.他被认为是现代最成功的财政大臣。

13 emeritus   

adj.名誉退休的

参考例句：

• "Perhaps I can introduce Mr.Lake Kirby,an emeritus professor from Washington University?"请允许我介绍华盛顿大学名誉教授莱克柯尔比先生。
• He will continue as chairman emeritus.他将会继续担任荣誉主席。

14 reprehensible   

adj.该受责备的

参考例句：

• Lying is not seen as being morally reprehensible in any strong way.人们并不把撒谎当作一件应该大加谴责的事儿。
• It was reprehensible of him to be so disloyal.他如此不忠，应受谴责。

15 condemns   

v.（通常因道义上的原因而）谴责( condemn的第三人称单数 )；宣判；宣布…不能使用；迫使…陷于不幸的境地

参考例句：

• Her widowhood condemns her to a lonely old age. 守寡使她不得不过着孤独的晚年生活。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The public opinion condemns prostitution. 公众舆论遣责卖淫。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

16 misuse   

n.误用，滥用；vt.误用，滥用

参考例句：

• It disturbs me profoundly that you so misuse your talents.你如此滥用自己的才能，使我深感不安。
• He was sacked for computer misuse.他因滥用计算机而被解雇了。

17 justify   

vt.证明…正当(或有理)，为…辩护

参考例句：

• He tried to justify his absence with lame excuses.他想用站不住脚的借口为自己的缺席辩解。
• Can you justify your rude behavior to me?你能向我证明你的粗野行为是有道理的吗？

18 prospect   

n.前景，前途；景色，视野

参考例句：

• This state of things holds out a cheerful prospect.事态呈现出可喜的前景。
• The prospect became more evident.前景变得更加明朗了。

19 nurture   

n.养育，照顾，教育；滋养，营养品；vt.养育，给与营养物，教养，扶持

参考例句：

• The tree grows well in his nurture.在他的培育下这棵树长得很好。
• The two sisters had received very different nurture.这俩个姊妹接受过极不同的教育。