听力文摘：流产和乳腺癌

Abortion¹ and Breast Cancer

流产和乳腺癌

When it comes to certain hot topics, claims about what science has or hasn't proven tend to be thrown around more in the service of one position or another than anything else.

当谈到某些热点问题时，有关科学已证实的或未证实的那些断言，往往更多的围绕着它服务于哪个岗位而进行。

Somebody may tell you that global warming is absolutely real, for example, and then someone else says it absolutely isn't. Often it's hard to know what the real scoop² is.

比如，也许有人会告诉你全球变暖是真的在发生，然后另一些人又会说绝对不可能。通常我们很难弄清楚实情是什么。

Take abortion, for example. Now, we here at Moment of Science aren't taking a position on abortion one way or another. What we can do, though, is set the record straight on a particular notion that has been floating around recently: namely, the idea that having an abortion increases a woman's risk for breast cancer. Is this true?

用“流产”举个例子吧。现在，我们“科学一刻”关于“流产”没有任何立场。然而，我们能做的就是弄清最近流传的一观念的真相，即流产会增加女性患乳腺癌风险。真的吗？

No, it isn't. This is the latest word from the National Cancer Institute in Bethesda, Maryland, where in February of 2003 a meeting of researchers, clinicians, and epidemiologists was convened³ at the behest of Congress to answer this and other questions.

不，不是真的。这个观点来自马里兰州贝塞斯达国家癌症研究所。2003年2月，为了解决该疑问，国会召集了研究员，临床医生和流行病学家在此召开了会议。

Some initial studies had suggested a link, but more comprehensive studies disagreed. Congress wanted to set the record straight. The NCI looked at all the data and announced: no link.

一些最初的研究表明两者有关联。但是更全面的研究否认了这一观点。国会想弄清真相。国家癌症研究所研究了所有数据后宣布：没有联系。

However, they also announced, having a baby reduces a woman's risk of breast cancer. Why is that? It isn't yet known, but the data strongly support a link there—young women who have full term pregnancies⁴ are at lower risk.

然而，他们也宣称，生孩子会减少女性患乳腺癌的风险。为什么呢？虽然还不是很清楚，但数据大力支持这种关联——有足月妊娠的年轻女性换乳腺癌的风险较低。

So let's say it again. Having an abortion doesn't increase your cancer risk, but having a baby does decrease it. People on either side of a controversial topic like this probably would like the facts to be a little simpler, but then, mother nature isn't taking sides.

所以让我们再说一遍吧。流产并不会增加患乳腺癌的风险，但生孩子却会降低风险。像这种有争议的话题，任何一方的人可能都希望事实变得简单些。但大自然并不偏向某一方。

1 abortion   

n.流产，堕胎

参考例句：

• She had an abortion at the women's health clinic.她在妇女保健医院做了流产手术。
• A number of considerations have led her to have a wilful abortion.多种考虑使她执意堕胎。

2 scoop   

n.铲子，舀取，独家新闻；v.汲取，舀取，抢先登出

参考例句：

• In the morning he must get his boy to scoop it out.早上一定得叫佣人把它剜出来。
• Uh,one scoop of coffee and one scoop of chocolate for me.我要一勺咖啡的和一勺巧克力的。

3 convened   

召开( convene的过去式 )； 召集； （为正式会议而）聚集； 集合

参考例句：

• The chairman convened the committee to put the issue to a vote. 主席召集委员们开会对这个问题进行表决。
• The governor convened his troops to put down the revolt. 总督召集他的部队去镇压叛乱。

4 pregnancies   

怀孕，妊娠( pregnancy的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Since the wartime population needed replenishment, pregnancies were a good sign. 最后一桩倒不失为好现象，战时人口正该补充。
• She's had three pregnancies in four years. 她在四年中怀孕叁次。