纽约时报 英国的抗疫路线(3)

At the heart of Britain's approach is an attempt to slow but extend the spread of the virus,

英国应对疫情的要害便是努力延缓病毒的传播，

flattening¹ the infection curve so that more cases occur in the summer months — a time when fewer people tend to be sick —

抑制感染曲线的波动幅度，将疫情的发展推迟到夏季——夏季生病的人通常较少——

to manage the influx² of patients and prevent the health service from being overwhelmed

从而控制感染病患的大规模出现，

during the winter and early spring months when they have a heavy load of other patients.

防止冬季及早春的几个月因非新冠肺炎病人较多引发医疗资源挤兑。

But the government sowed concern last week when its chief scientific adviser³, Sir Patrick Vallance,

然而，上周，英国政府却在民众心中埋下了忧心的种子，

said he expected a majority of Britons to contract the virus.

因首席科学顾问帕特里克·瓦伦斯爵士称，他希望大多数英国人都感染这一病毒。

He said this would create “herd⁴ immunity⁵” in the population,

他表示，这样一来，英国民众便能获得“群体免疫”，

which could prevent the coronavirus from returning with a vengeance⁶ next winter.

或许就能阻止新冠病毒在今冬卷土重来。

While Mr. Vallance did not disown the concept of herd immunity on Monday,

尽管瓦伦斯周一没有否认群体免疫这一说法，

he argued this would arise as a byproduct of the pandemic rather than as a consequence of a deliberate strategy.

他表示，群体免疫仍将出现，只不过是作为大流行的一个副产品的身份出现，而非作为有意为之的策略的结果出现。

The overriding⁷ objective, he said, was still to slow the course of the disease and to protect the vulnerable.

他表示，当前的首要目标仍是减缓疫情的扩散速度，保护体质较弱群体。

But the government also did not clear up questions about its testing policy.

然而，政府也未澄清检测政策方面的疑惑。

Britain stopped conducting tests of people in designated geographic⁸ areas, which fueled questions about its policy.

英国已经停止检测部分指定地区，此举进一步加剧了民众对英国抗疫政策的质疑。

Officials said they planned to ramp⁹ up testing in general,

官员们表示，他们原本计划普遍加大检测力度，

but they emphasized the goal was to devise a test of whether people had contracted the virus in the past.

但他们也强调，此举意在设计一款检测大家是否有过感染这一病毒的经历的测试。

That, they said, would help combat the spread.

他们称，这一举措将有助于抗击疫情的传播。

Mr.Johnson also did not disavow the government's theory that social distancing measures need to be rolled out on a deliberate timetable,

约翰逊也没有否认政府的推测，即隔离措施需要经过深思熟虑的时间表加持，

so that people will be willing to go along with the disruption to their lives.

人们才会愿意接受生活节奏被扰乱这一后果。

Schools, he said, might well be closed in the coming days, but Britain was not there yet.

他表示，英国的学校大概率会于近日关闭，但目前尚未到达封闭整个国家的地步。

“The crucial thing is timeliness,” Mr. Johnson said. “We think this is the right package for the moment.”

“关键是时机，”约翰逊说。“在我们看来，我们当下的（抗疫）政策是符合当前形势的。”

1 flattening   

n. 修平 动词flatten的现在分词

参考例句：

• Flattening of the right atrial border is also seen in constrictive pericarditis. 右心房缘变平亦见于缩窄性心包炎。
• He busied his fingers with flattening the leaves of the book. 他手指忙着抚平书页。

2 influx   

n.流入，注入

参考例句：

• The country simply cannot absorb this influx of refugees.这个国家实在不能接纳这么多涌入的难民。
• Textile workers favoured protection because they feared an influx of cheap cloth.纺织工人拥护贸易保护措施，因为他们担心涌入廉价纺织品。

3 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 immunity   

n.优惠；免除；豁免，豁免权

参考例句：

• The law gives public schools immunity from taxation.法律免除公立学校的纳税义务。
• He claims diplomatic immunity to avoid being arrested.他要求外交豁免以便避免被捕。

6 vengeance   

n.报复，报仇，复仇

参考例句：

• He swore vengeance against the men who murdered his father.他发誓要向那些杀害他父亲的人报仇。
• For years he brooded vengeance.多年来他一直在盘算报仇。

7 overriding   

a.最主要的

参考例句：

• Development is of overriding importance. 发展是硬道理
• My overriding concern is to raise the standards of state education. 我最关心的是提高国民教育水平。

8 geographic   

adj.地理学的，地理的

参考例句：

• The city's success owes much to its geographic position. 这座城市的成功很大程度上归功于它的地理位置。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Environmental problems pay no heed to these geographic lines. 环境问题并不理会这些地理界限。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 ramp   

n.暴怒，斜坡，坡道；vi.作恐吓姿势，暴怒，加速；vt.加速

参考例句：

• That driver drove the car up the ramp.那司机将车开上了斜坡。
• The factory don't have that capacity to ramp up.这家工厂没有能力加速生产。