新奇事件簿 轿车内携带致命细菌

Many people feel safer in their own cars than risk getting germs while travelling on public transport. The truth for many car drivers and passengers is the opposite. A British survey discovered that most cars are so dirty inside that they are a potential breeding ground for bacteria such as the deadly E.Coli. The survey was carried out by the University of Nottingham. Microbiologists analysed steering¹ wheels, hand brakes, foot wells and seats to find out what bacteria might be lurking² there. They found that most cars were dirty enough to harbour the deadly bacteria. They also discovered that most car owners gave very little thought to the importance of keeping their car interior hygienic.

许多人认为比起乘坐公共交通工具所携带的细菌，在私家车中要更加安全。而对于许多车主和乘客来说，事实却截然相反。英国的一项研究发现车中携带着许多有毒病菌，它们还是致命细菌的滋生地，例如大肠杆菌。这是诺丁汉大学所做的研究。微生物学家对方向盘、手刹、座位以及搁脚处的细菌进行了研究。它们发现绝大多数汽车都携带这些致命细菌。他们还发现绝大多数轿车车主很少重视车内卫生。

Cars are an ideal place for germs to live. Over half of car owners have dropped food onto seats, while a third have spilt drinks. Other owners spoke³ of children's vomit⁴ and 'pet accidents'. Despite this, only a quarter of owners cleaned the inside of their cars once every three months and most drivers still eat and drink at the wheel. Common problems the researchers found were drink bottles under seats, used tissues in storage areas and rotting food on carpets and seat covers. A spokeswoman said: "It's really worrying to see just how dirty people are letting their cars get. We were expecting to find some bad stuff from the University of Nottingham's testing but we didn't expect to find bacteria relating to E.coli in there."

汽车是细菌滋生的理想场所。有超过一半车主曾经将食物掉到过座位上，有三分之一车主在座位上撒过饮料。还有车主说车内曾经有小孩的呕吐物和宠物的粪便。尽管是这样，但是只有四分之一的车主会在每三个月清理一次车内卫生，绝大多数车主仍然在车里吃喝。研究人员发现的普遍问题是饮料瓶会出现在座位底下，手纸在存储区，腐烂的食物会在地毯或是座套上。发言人称：“车内卫生之糟糕已经到达了让人担忧的地步。我们希望从诺丁汉大学的检测中发现一些有害物质，但是我们不希望发现与大肠杆菌有关的细菌。

1 steering   

n.操舵装置

参考例句：

• He beat his hands on the steering wheel in frustration. 他沮丧地用手打了几下方向盘。
• Steering according to the wind, he also framed his words more amicably. 他真会看风使舵，口吻也马上变得温和了。

2 lurking   

潜在

参考例句：

• Why are you lurking around outside my house? 你在我房子外面鬼鬼祟祟的，想干什么？
• There is a suspicious man lurking in the shadows. 有一可疑的人躲在阴暗中。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 spoke   

n.（车轮的）辐条；轮辐；破坏某人的计划；阻挠某人的行动 v.讲，谈（speak的过去式）；说；演说；从某种观点来说

参考例句：

• They sourced the spoke nuts from our company.他们的轮辐螺帽是从我们公司获得的。
• The spokes of a wheel are the bars that connect the outer ring to the centre.辐条是轮子上连接外圈与中心的条棒。

4 vomit   

v.呕吐，作呕；n.呕吐物，吐出物

参考例句：

• They gave her salty water to make her vomit.他们给她喝盐水好让她吐出来。
• She was stricken by pain and began to vomit.她感到一阵疼痛，开始呕吐起来。