新奇事件簿 生物恐怖主义一年内会夺走3000万人生命

The former head of Microsoft, Bill Gates, has warned that the world could be in great danger from bio-terrorism. He said the world could face a catastrophe¹ from a virus made by terrorists that could kill 30 million people in less than a year. Mr Gates, the richest person in the world, was speaking at the Munich Security Conference in Germany. He said there was a "reasonable" chance that a bio-terrorist could act in the next 10 to 15 years. He added that world leaders are not prepared for such an attack. He expressed his surprise that very few leaders were even aware of it. He asked for global "health security" to become a major part of government discussions and policies.

微软前总裁比尔·盖茨警告称，世界可能会处于来自生物恐怖主义的严重威胁。他表示，世界可能会面临恐怖分子制造的一种病毒造成的灾难，不到一年的时间内就会夺走3000万人的生命。世界首富盖茨在德国慕尼黑安全会议上发表讲话。他表示，未来10年到15年生物恐怖分子采取行动的可能性相当大。他补充说，世界领导人并未做好应对这种袭击的准备。甚至几乎没有国家元首意识到这个问题，他感到非常惊讶。他呼吁全球“卫生安全”成为政府讨论和政策的重要部分。

Mr Gates explained that: "The next epidemic² has a good chance of originating on a computer screen." He said a genetically³ engineered virus was easier to make and could kill more people than nuclear weapons, but no country on Earth is ready for this threat. He asked governments, "to prepare for these epidemics⁴ in the same way we prepare for war". Gates asked governments to start "germ games" activities to prepare for a bio-terrorist attack, like many countries engage in war games. He said we needed better monitoring to spot outbreaks early, and systems to quickly develop vaccines⁵ - within weeks rather than years. "We need a new arsenal⁶ of weapons, anti-viral drugs, antibodies, vaccines and new diagnostics," he said.

盖茨解释说：“下一场大规模的流行疾病很可能来自电脑屏幕。”他表示，基因改造的病毒更容易制造，杀生的数量比核武器更多，但是地球上没有一个国家做好了应对这种威胁的准备。他要求政府“以应对战争的方式为这些流行病做准备。”他要求政府开始“生殖游戏”活动，为生物恐怖分子袭击做准备，就像许多国家参与真正游戏一样。他说，我们需要能够及早预警到流行病爆发的监控措施，以及迅速研发疫苗的系统——在几周的时间之内，而不是在几年之内。“我们需要一种新的武器兵工厂，抗病毒药物，抗体，疫苗和新的诊断程式。”他说。

1 catastrophe   

n.大灾难，大祸

参考例句：

• I owe it to you that I survived the catastrophe.亏得你我才大难不死。
• This is a catastrophe beyond human control.这是一场人类无法控制的灾难。

2 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

3 genetically   

adv.遗传上

参考例句：

• All the bees in the colony are genetically related. 同一群体的蜜蜂都有亲缘关系。
• Genetically modified foods have already arrived on American dinner tables. 经基因改造加工过的食物已端上了美国人的餐桌。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 基因与食物

4 epidemics   

n．流行病

参考例句：

• Reliance upon natural epidemics may be both time-consuming and misleading. 依靠天然的流行既浪费时间，又会引入歧途。
• The antibiotic epidemics usually start stop when the summer rainy season begins. 传染病通常会在夏天的雨季停止传播。

5 vaccines   

疫苗，痘苗( vaccine的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• His team are at the forefront of scientific research into vaccines. 他的小组处于疫苗科研的最前沿。
• The vaccines were kept cool in refrigerators. 疫苗放在冰箱中冷藏。

6 arsenal   

n.兵工厂，军械库

参考例句：

• Even the workers at the arsenal have got a secret organization.兵工厂工人暗中也有组织。
• We must be the great arsenal of democracy.我们必须成为民主的大军火库。