调查：癌症纯属现代人为制造吗？

 　　s the common nature of cancer worldwide purely¹ a man-made phenomenon? That is what some researchers now suggest。

　　有研究人员称，放眼世界，所有癌症的共同本质在于：它们都是人造疾病。

　　Cancer is a leading cause of death worldwide, however, scientists have only found one case of the disease in investigations² of hundreds of Egyptian mummies, researcher Rosalie David of the University of Manchester in England said in a statement。

　　癌症是人类的头号杀手，但据英国曼彻斯特大学的罗莎莉-戴维称，科学家在调查了数百具木乃伊后，仅发现一例癌症病例。

　　"This might be related to the prevalence of carcinogens in modern societies," write Rosalie David and Michael Zimmermann of Villanova University, Pennsylvania. Cancers are "limited to societies that are affected³ by modern lifestyle issues, such as tobacco use and pollution resulting from industrialization"。

　　罗莎莉-戴维和美国宾夕法尼亚州维拉诺瓦大学的迈克尔-齐默尔曼说：“这可能与现代社会致癌物十分普遍有关。”他们还称癌症“只存在于受现代生活方式问题——如吸烟和工业化进程导致的污染——影响的社会里”。

　　In a review of published analyses of tens of thousands of ancient skeletons and hundreds of mummies, David and Zimmermann found only a handful of cases of cancer. One recent finding, of colorectal cancer, was identified as the first ever discovered in a mummy. They also examined ancient texts and literature from Egypt and Greece, and say that there's little sign that cancer was a common ailment⁴。

　　在对已公布的数万具古人骨骼和数百具木乃伊的分析报告评估后，戴维和齐默尔曼只找到少数癌症案例。最近首次发现了一具木乃伊曾患有结肠直肠癌。他们在研读埃及和希腊的古经文和文学作品后表示，目前几乎没有证据显示，癌症在当时时一种常见病。

　　A quote from David put out by the University of Manchester saying "there is nothing in the natural environment that can cause cancer. So it has to be a man-made disease, down to pollution and changes to our diet and lifestyle" caused particular consternation⁵。

　　曼彻斯特大学公布了戴维的一段话：“自然环境中没有致癌物。因此，癌症是一种人造疾病，其原因是环境污染以及我们的饮食习惯和生活方式发生了变化。”

　　Still, other specialists in cancer and in human fossils have strong doubts about this view. "Cancer is very rare in modern societies in humans under age 30," said oncologist John Glaspy at UCLA's Jonsson Comprehensive Cancer Center. "In ancient times, people rarely lived to be much older than that. So cancer was rare. The 'sin' of modern societies is having people live to be much older."

　　但是，癌症以及化石研究领域的专家对此持强烈反对。“现代社会中，30岁以下的癌症患者非常少见，” 加利福利亚大学洛杉矶分校Jonsson综合癌症中心的肿瘤学家约翰-格兰斯潘说。“在古代，很少有人活到壮年。所以癌症病例也就少见。而现代社会的‘罪恶’就是让人们活得时间更长了一些而已。”

1 purely   

adv.纯粹地，完全地

参考例句：

• I helped him purely and simply out of friendship.我帮他纯粹是出于友情。
• This disproves the theory that children are purely imitative.这证明认为儿童只会单纯地模仿的理论是站不住脚的。

2 investigations   

（正式的）调查( investigation的名词复数 )； 侦查； 科学研究； 学术研究

参考例句：

• His investigations were intensive and thorough but revealed nothing. 他进行了深入彻底的调查，但没有发现什么。
• He often sent them out to make investigations. 他常常派他们出去作调查。

3 affected   

adj.不自然的，假装的

参考例句：

• She showed an affected interest in our subject.她假装对我们的课题感到兴趣。
• His manners are affected.他的态度不自然。

4 ailment   

n.疾病，小病

参考例句：

• I don't have even the slightest ailment.我什么毛病也没有。
• He got timely treatment for his ailment.他的病得到了及时治疗。

5 consternation   

n.大为吃惊，惊骇

参考例句：

• He was filled with consternation to hear that his friend was so ill.他听说朋友病得那么厉害，感到非常震惊。
• Sam stared at him in consternation.萨姆惊恐不安地注视着他。