美国国家公共电台 NPR--The importance of sweat: We need it to keep cool

The importance of sweat: We need it to keep cool

Transcript¹

NPR begins a celebration of sweat — what it's made of, where it comes from and what it smells like. Spoiler alert: most of the time it doesn't have any smell at all.

LEILA FADEL, HOST:

Today, NPR begins a celebration of sweat - everything you wanted to know about sweat but were too hot to ask. Our science desk explores sweat science as a public service. NPR's Joe Palca kicks things off.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE²: When my editor asked me to do this story, I said, no sweat. First, let's talk about what sweat is. The human body is basically a bag of liquid with a few bones and organs thrown in to make things interesting. Some of that liquid is in arteries³ and veins⁴, but some of it is in the interstices, the spaces between cells and bones and organs. And it's that interstitial fluid that's critical to understanding sweat. Why? - because sweat...

LINDSAY BAKER⁵: Comes from the interstitial fluid in your body, so that's the starting point.

PALCA: That's Lindsay Baker of the Gatorade Sports Science Institute. Yeah, that Gatorade. She's forgotten more about sweat than most people will ever know. I keep wanting to call her the sultan of sweat, but it's a bit of an obscure joke. Baker says sweat is released from special glands⁶ in the skin called ecrine glands.

BAKER: We have about 2 to 4 million glands across our body surface. And this ecrine sweat is composed mostly of water and salt.

PALCA: So that's what sweat is - basically just salt and water from the spare liquid sloshing around in your body. Question two, why do we sweat? We sweat to keep cool. When sweat evaporates, it cools the skin, and it cools the blood and the blood vessels⁷ near the skin. The cooler blood flows to the rest of the body, and we avoid overheating. Question three, does sweat stink⁸? Surprising answer, mostly no.

STEVE XU: Ecrine sweat is in large part pretty odorless.

PALCA: Steve Xu studies sweat at Northwestern University. But, in fact, there is a stinky form of sweat. In addition to ecrine glands, Xu says there's something called apocrine glands.

XU: They kind of exude⁹ a certain more protein-rich sweat.

PALCA: And these apocrine glands are found mostly in the groin and armpits. Apocrine sweat contributes to the fragrance¹⁰ of compounds emanating¹¹ from those areas. So there you are. Sweat - it may smell a bit, but we really need it to keep our cool.

Joe Palca, NPR News.

1 transcript   

n.抄本，誊本，副本，肄业证书

参考例句：

• A transcript of the tapes was presented as evidence in court.一份录音带的文字本作为证据被呈交法庭。
• They wouldn't let me have a transcript of the interview.他们拒绝给我一份采访的文字整理稿。

2 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

3 arteries   

n.动脉( artery的名词复数 )；干线，要道

参考例句：

• Even grafting new blood vessels in place of the diseased coronary arteries has been tried. 甚至移植新血管代替不健康的冠状动脉的方法都已经试过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• This is the place where the three main arteries of West London traffic met. 这就是伦敦西部三条主要交通干线的交汇处。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 veins   

n.纹理；矿脉( vein的名词复数 )；静脉；叶脉；纹理

参考例句：

• The blood flows from the capillaries back into the veins. 血从毛细血管流回静脉。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• I felt a pleasant glow in all my veins from the wine. 喝过酒后我浑身的血都热烘烘的，感到很舒服。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 baker   

n.面包师

参考例句：

• The baker bakes his bread in the bakery.面包师在面包房内烤面包。
• The baker frosted the cake with a mixture of sugar and whites of eggs.面包师在蛋糕上撒了一层白糖和蛋清的混合料。

6 glands   

n.腺( gland的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• a snake's poison glands 蛇的毒腺
• the sebaceous glands in the skin 皮脂腺

7 vessels   

n.血管( vessel的名词复数 )；船；容器；（具有特殊品质或接受特殊品质的）人

参考例句：

• The river is navigable by vessels of up to 90 tons. 90 吨以下的船只可以从这条河通过。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• All modern vessels of any size are fitted with radar installations. 所有现代化船只都有雷达装置。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

8 stink   

vi.发出恶臭；糟透，招人厌恶；n.恶臭

参考例句：

• The stink of the rotten fish turned my stomach.腐烂的鱼臭味使我恶心。
• The room has awful stink.那个房间散发着难闻的臭气。

9 exude   

v.(使)流出，(使)渗出

参考例句：

• Some successful men exude self-confidence.有些成功的人流露出自信。
• The sun made him exude sweat.烈日晒得他汗流浃背。

10 fragrance   

n.芬芳，香味，香气

参考例句：

• The apple blossoms filled the air with their fragrance.苹果花使空气充满香味。
• The fragrance of lavender filled the room.房间里充满了薰衣草的香味。

11 emanating   

v.从…处传出，传出( emanate的现在分词 )；产生，表现，显示

参考例句：

• Even so, there is a slight odour of potpourri emanating from Longfellow. 纵然如此，也还是可以闻到来自朗费罗的一种轻微的杂烩的味道。 来自辞典例句
• Many surface waters, particularly those emanating from swampy areas, are often colored to the extent. 许多地表水，特别是由沼泽地区流出的地表水常常染上一定程度的颜色。 来自辞典例句