听力文摘：洋葱会杀死你的宠物

You may already know that chocolate can be lethal¹ to your pet, but did you know that onions can be toxic² to your cats and dogs too? And I’m not just talking about their breath.

也许你已经知道巧克力对宠物的杀伤力，但是你知道小猫小狗吃了洋葱会中毒吗？我不仅仅说的是他们的呼吸。

You see all forms of onions–cooked, raw, dehydrated–contain sulfurcompounds. When your pet ingests onions, these compounds are broken down into what are known as disulphidecompounds; these are toxic to red blood cell membranes³ and cause them to form small bubble-like projections⁵ that are known as Heinz bodies. These bubbles make the red blood cell more rigid⁶, and weaken its outer membrane⁴, which means not only that the cell can’t flex⁷ and twist as it circulates in the body, but that it is more likely to rupture⁸.

要知道，新鲜的、脱水的、烹饪的洋葱，无一例外含有硫化物。宠物摄食洋葱，化合物就分解成二硫化物，红细胞膜“中毒”，形成海恩茨氏小体的突起小泡。海恩茨氏小体使红细胞僵硬，外膜受损。红细胞在体内循环，无法弯曲和扭转，更易破裂。

Now, the main function of red blood cells is to circulate oxygen throughout the body. Without enough of these, the animal becomes anemic, and–if the bone marrow⁹ isn’t given enough time to regenerate¹⁰ new red blood cells–it may even die. This also explains why the effects of onion toxicity¹¹ can take a few days to show up, and why even very small amounts of onions can still have a cumulative¹² damaging effect.

红细胞的主要功能是循环体内的氧气。红细胞的缺失诱发动物贫血；如果骨髓没有及时更新红细胞，动物就会丧命。这也是洋葱毒性在数日后才得以显现的原因，而极少量的洋葱也能带来极大的危害。

So what can you do to protect your dog or cat? Make sure to read labels. For example, baby food, which people use to entice¹³ their sick cats to eat, often contains onion powder. Also, do not feed your pet table scraps¹⁴ that contain onions in any shape or form. And it is always if your cat or dog begins vomiting¹⁵, acting¹⁶ depressed¹⁷, or breathes rapidly. Don’t delay! Take them to the vet¹⁸.

那么，你如何保护宠物呢？请仔细阅读标签。比如，人们用来喂生病宠物猫的婴儿食品中就常含有洋葱粉。也不要喂给宠物任何含洋葱的残羹剩饭。此外，如果你的宠物猫狗出现呕吐、精神沉郁、呼吁紧促等症状，就赶快送去兽医诊所！

1 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

2 toxic   

adj.有毒的，因中毒引起的

参考例句：

• The factory had accidentally released a quantity of toxic waste into the sea.这家工厂意外泄漏大量有毒废物到海中。
• There is a risk that toxic chemicals might be blasted into the atmosphere.爆炸后有毒化学物质可能会进入大气层。

3 membranes   

n.（动物或植物体内的）薄膜( membrane的名词复数 )；隔膜；（可起防水、防风等作用的）膜状物

参考例句：

• The waste material is placed in cells with permeable membranes. 废液置于有渗透膜的槽中。 来自辞典例句
• The sarcoplasmic reticulum is a system of intracellular membranes. 肌浆网属于细胞内膜系统。 来自辞典例句

4 membrane   

n.薄膜，膜皮，羊皮纸

参考例句：

• A vibrating membrane in the ear helps to convey sounds to the brain.耳膜的振动帮助声音传送到大脑。
• A plastic membrane serves as selective diffusion barrier.一层塑料薄膜起着选择性渗透屏障的作用。

5 projections   

预测( projection的名词复数 )； 投影； 投掷； 突起物

参考例句：

• Their sales projections are a total thumbsuck. 他们的销售量预测纯属估计。
• The council has revised its projections of funding requirements upwards. 地方议会调高了对资金需求的预测。

6 rigid   

adj.严格的，死板的；刚硬的，僵硬的

参考例句：

• She became as rigid as adamant.她变得如顽石般的固执。
• The examination was so rigid that nearly all aspirants were ruled out.考试很严，几乎所有的考生都被淘汰了。

7 flex   

n.皮线，花线；vt.弯曲或伸展

参考例句：

• We wound off a couple of yards of wire for a new lamp flex.我们解开几码电线作为新的电灯花线。
• He gave his biceps a flex to impress the ladies.他收缩他的肱二头肌以吸引那些女士们的目光。

8 rupture   

n.破裂；(关系的)决裂；v.(使)破裂

参考例句：

• I can rupture a rule for a friend.我可以为朋友破一次例。
• The rupture of a blood vessel usually cause the mark of a bruise.血管的突然破裂往往会造成外伤的痕迹。

9 marrow   

n.骨髓；精华；活力

参考例句：

• It was so cold that he felt frozen to the marrow. 天气太冷了，他感到寒冷刺骨。
• He was tired to the marrow of his bones.他真是累得筋疲力尽了。

10 regenerate   

vt.使恢复，使新生；vi.恢复，再生；adj.恢复的

参考例句：

• Their aim is to regenerate British industry.他们的目的是复兴英国的工业。
• Although it is not easy,you have the power to regenerate your life.尽管这不容易，但你有使生活重获新生的能力。

11 toxicity   

n.毒性，毒力

参考例句：

• The hoarse grunt or squeal is characteristic of toxicity.嘶哑的哼声和叫声是中毒的特征。
• Dieldrin is related to aldrin,and its toxicity to earthworms is similar.狄氏剂与艾氏剂有关，对蚯蚓的毒性是相似的。

12 cumulative   

adj.累积的，渐增的

参考例句：

• This drug has a cumulative effect.这种药有渐增的效力。
• The benefits from eating fish are cumulative.吃鱼的好处要长期才能显现。

13 entice   

v.诱骗，引诱，怂恿

参考例句：

• Nothing will entice the children from television.没有任何东西能把孩子们从电视机前诱开。
• I don't see why the English should want to entice us away from our native land.我不明白，为什英国人要引诱我们离开自己的国土。

14 scraps   

油渣

参考例句：

• Don't litter up the floor with scraps of paper. 不要在地板上乱扔纸屑。
• A patchwork quilt is a good way of using up scraps of material. 做杂拼花布棉被是利用零碎布料的好办法。

15 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

16 acting   

n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的

参考例句：

• Ignore her,she's just acting.别理她，她只是假装的。
• During the seventies,her acting career was in eclipse.在七十年代，她的表演生涯黯然失色。

17 depressed   

adj.沮丧的，抑郁的，不景气的，萧条的

参考例句：

• When he was depressed,he felt utterly divorced from reality.他心情沮丧时就感到完全脱离了现实。
• His mother was depressed by the sad news.这个坏消息使他的母亲意志消沉。

18 vet   

n.兽医，退役军人；vt.检查

参考例句：

• I took my dog to the vet.我把狗带到兽医诊所看病。
• Someone should vet this report before it goes out.这篇报道发表之前应该有人对它进行详查。