国家地理:为了结束这场流行病 我们必须相信科学(4)

Fauci's worst nightmare? I could barely get to sleep.

这只是福奇最糟的恶梦？我可是几乎无法入眠。

As this pandemic threatens the entire world, the fight against it has been a very public one. The average citizen is getting insight into scientific theorizing that is normally confined to academic conferences and slow-moving journals. Much of the debate over these ideas is taking place on television, as well as on Twitter, on Facebook, and in the backyard gatherings¹ of lawn chair epidemiologists.

随着这场大流行威胁了整个世界，与它的抗战已完全成为了公众之事。科学理论通常仅出现在学术会议和出版进度缓慢的期刊上，现在一般公民也开始有所认识。许多相关争论开始出现在电视、推特、脸书上，还有坐在草坪躺椅上的流行病学家的后院聚会中。

We're seeing that now, as thousands of researchers have reoriented their labs, no matter how far afield from virology or infectious disease, to attack this hydra-headed problem collectively. There has never been anything like it, with scientists collaborating² across borders at full throttle³ -- even as some of their political leaders snipe at one another.

数千名研究人员已经调整实验方向，不论他们的领域和病毒学或传染病有多么不相关，为的是共同制伏这个有多重威胁的病毒。从来没有像现在这样，科学家以全速进行跨国合作――即使他们某些人的政治领袖在相互攻讦。

Watching this ramped-up scientific effort has felt double-edged: encouraging to see but so hard to follow that it also added to my free-floating anxiety. So I did what I've done my whole adult life -- called up some scientists to see what they think. This is a wonderful benefit to being a journalist, being allowed to ask dumb questions of smart people. Usually it helps me clarify my own thinking. This time... not so much.

看到这种不断增强的科学努力，我有了一种双重感觉：我感觉令人鼓舞却又很难跟上，这也增加了我飘忽不定的焦虑。因此我做了我成年后一直在做的事情--我打电话给几位科学家，看看他们有什么想法。身为新闻工作者的一个天大好处，就是可以向聪明人问笨问题。通常这么做有助于我理清自己的想法。但这一次...效果有限。

1 gatherings   

聚集( gathering的名词复数 )； 收集； 采集； 搜集

参考例句：

• His conduct at social gatherings created a lot of comment. 他在社交聚会上的表现引起许多闲话。
• During one of these gatherings a pupil caught stealing. 有一次，其中一名弟子偷窃被抓住。

2 collaborating   

合作( collaborate的现在分词 )； 勾结叛国

参考例句：

• Joe is collaborating on the work with a friend. 乔正与一位朋友合作做那件工作。
• He was not only learning from but also collaborating with Joseph Thomson. 他不仅是在跟约瑟福？汤姆逊学习，而且也是在和他合作。

3 throttle   

n.节流阀，节气阀，喉咙；v.扼喉咙，使窒息，压

参考例句：

• These government restrictions are going to throttle our trade.这些政府的限制将要扼杀我们的贸易。
• High tariffs throttle trade between countries.高的关税抑制了国与国之间的贸易。