华盛顿邮报 什么是病毒猎人？(3)

 

    And is this also the perspective of, like, governments who are backing this sort of work?

    这也是支持这类工作的政府的观点吗?

    Well, United States government has backed this work.

    嗯，美国政府支持这项工作。

    The stated objective and hope of, let's say the United States Agency for International Development, for instance, is that we'll get out there, we'll be very proactive, and we will predict what is gonna happen and we will prevent a pandemic from occurring.

    以美国国际开发署为例，该机构宣称的目标与希望是，我们要走出去，我们要主动出击，我们要预测未来之事，我们要阻止疫情爆发。

    I wonder why you went on this journey to understand more about virus hunting, and was your investigation¹ and the prompt for going down this road for you, did it have to do with or was it connected to the COVID-19 pandemic?

    我想知道你为什么走上了解病毒搜寻知识的这条路？是你的调查促使你走上这条路的吗？这与新冠肺炎疫情是否有关系？

    It certainly is connected because the pandemic is the demonstration² of the danger of a pathogen on the loose, circling and racing³ around the world that tells us we need to learn lessons here and what aspects of policy can we tighten⁴ up?

    这当然有联系，因为这场疫情展示了病原体在世界各地肆虐、一轮轮快速传播的危险，这告诉我们，我们需要从中吸取教训，了解我们可以在哪些方面收紧政策。

    I was really shocked to hear the concerns of senior figures in the US scientific community -- I'm talking about people with deep governmental experience themselves -- tell me about their concerns with various forms of risky⁵ research, and so my colleague Joby Warrick and I got into this looking broadly at risky research.

    当听到美国科学界资深人士的担忧时，我深感震惊——我采访的是有着丰富政府工作经验的人——他们向我透露他们对各种形式的风险研究的担忧，因此，我和我的同事乔比·沃里克开始广泛关注风险研究。

    But virus hunting struck us as the most dangerous of all, this narrow niche⁶ of virus hunting where people are going out into remote areas and collecting specimens⁷ of genetic⁸ material from animals, principally bats, in search of viruses that are circulating only among animals.

    但我们认为搜寻病毒是最危险的风险研究，搜寻病毒是一种细分活动，人们前往偏远地区，从动物身上采集遗传物质样本，主要是蝙蝠身上，寻找只在动物间传播的病毒。

    And this, you discovered, is happening all over the world.

    你发现全世界都在开展这样的研究。

    The concerns that these scientists had, was it just about United States, or was it about what is happening around the world?

    这些科学家所担心的，仅仅是关于美国正在发生之事，还是关于世界各地的?

    Well, the most productive of these activities are in very subtropical areas, I mean, Southeast Asia, in China, it goes on in Africa, as well.

    嗯，这些活动中最有成效的是亚热带地区，比如，东南亚、中国、还有非洲。

    The course of the research and the interviews kept leading to new information and it was astonishing to me to learn that senior officials in the Biden White House had privately⁹ sought, because of their great concern over these ongoing¹⁰ US-funded virus hunting activities,研究和采访过程不断带来新信息，令我惊讶的是，拜登政府的高级官员私下寻求暂停，因为他们对美国资助的正在开展的病毒搜寻活动非常担忧，they had privately sought to halt a couple of projects that the United States Agency for International Development has just launched in the last couple of years and is still funding.

    他们曾私下试图停止美国国际开发署在过去几年刚刚启动且仍在资助的几个项目。

    And these two USAID programs have been carried out overseas with the work that has been ongoing in Southeast Asia in particular.

    这两个美国国际开发署的项目已在海外开展，特别是在东南亚正在开展的工作。

1 investigation   

n.调查，调查研究

参考例句：

• In an investigation,a new fact became known, which told against him.在调查中新发现了一件对他不利的事实。
• He drew the conclusion by building on his own investigation.他根据自己的调查研究作出结论。

2 demonstration   

n.表明，示范，论证，示威

参考例句：

• His new book is a demonstration of his patriotism.他写的新书是他的爱国精神的证明。
• He gave a demonstration of the new technique then and there.他当场表演了这种新的操作方法。

3 racing   

n.竞赛，赛马；adj.竞赛用的，赛马用的

参考例句：

• I was watching the racing on television last night.昨晚我在电视上看赛马。
• The two racing drivers fenced for a chance to gain the lead.两个赛车手伺机竞相领先。

4 tighten   

v.(使)变紧；(使)绷紧

参考例句：

• Turn the screw to the right to tighten it.向右转动螺钉把它拧紧。
• Some countries tighten monetary policy to avoid inflation.一些国家实行紧缩银根的货币政策，以避免通货膨胀。

5 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

6 niche   

n.壁龛；合适的职务(环境、位置等)

参考例句：

• Madeleine placed it carefully in the rocky niche. 玛德琳小心翼翼地把它放在岩石壁龛里。
• The really talented among women would always make their own niche.妇女中真正有才能的人总是各得其所。

7 specimens   

n.样品( specimen的名词复数 )；范例；（化验的）抽样；某种类型的人

参考例句：

• Astronauts have brought back specimens of rock from the moon. 宇航员从月球带回了岩石标本。
• The traveler brought back some specimens of the rocks from the mountains. 那位旅行者从山上带回了一些岩石标本。 来自《简明英汉词典》

8 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。

9 privately   

adv.以私人的身份，悄悄地，私下地

参考例句：

• Some ministers admit privately that unemployment could continue to rise.一些部长私下承认失业率可能继续升高。
• The man privately admits that his motive is profits.那人私下承认他的动机是为了牟利。

10 ongoing   

adj.进行中的，前进的

参考例句：

• The problem is ongoing.这个问题尚未解决。
• The issues raised in the report relate directly to Age Concern's ongoing work in this area.报告中提出的问题与“关心老人”组织在这方面正在做的工作有直接的关系。