VOA常速英语2018--回顾2018年的重要科学记忆点

For the residents of the English city of Salisbury, 2018 will be remembered as the year the nerve agent Novichok came to town. Professor Andrea Sela calls it a uniquely devastating¹ poison. The nervous system just fires wildly, and so you get all these bizarre symptoms of paralysis² and convulsions at the same time. Russian operatives are suspected of using the nerve agent, and they attempted poisoning of a former Russian spy and his daughter. The incident frayed³ relations between Europe and Russia.

对于英国索尔兹伯里的市民来说，2018年的记忆点将会是诺维乔克这种神经毒剂来袭这座城市。安德里亚·塞拉教授称其为具有独特破坏力的毒药。人的神经系统会剧烈反应，并会产生奇怪的症状——同时出现瘫痪和抽搐的情况。俄罗斯人被怀疑使用了这种神经毒剂，试图毒害前俄罗斯特工及其女儿。该事件导致欧洲和俄罗斯关系发生摩擦。

2018 will also be remembered as the year that genetic⁵ engineering made significant advances from the techniques modest beginning with Dolly the sheep in 1997. This year, scientists cloned pigs, dogs, mules⁶ and monkeys, and gene⁴ editing techniques are now being used to create designer animals, like these Holsteins genetically⁷ engineered to be hornless. Dairy cows like Holsteins grow horns and they’re quite dangerous for human workers and also for their fellow cows.

2018年的另一个记忆点是：基因工程取得重大进步。上一次重大进步是1997年多利羊成功克隆的技术。今年，科学家克隆了猪、狗、骡子、猴子。而且人类还用基因编辑的技术来创造设计动物。比如，这些毫斯坦奶牛可以通过基因工程变为无角牛。毫斯坦奶牛等奶牛长出来的角对于工作人员来说十分危险，对于同族群的牛来说亦是如此。

Scientists also uncovered some odd behavior in an ancient species of the humble⁸ but painful wasp⁹. X-rays uncovered a 30 million year-old species of parasitic¹⁰ wasps¹¹ about the size of a grain of rice that even way back then was feeding on ancient flies. Either the host is paralyzed or it continues to feed and breathe in and live relatively¹² normally but with this parasitoid thing, living and growing inside it and eventually of course it kills the host.

科学家还解密了一些远古生物的怪异行为，比如这种安分守己又把人蜇得生疼的黄蜂。X射线下，我们发现了一种3000万年前的寄生黄蜂，其大小跟一粒米差不多。直到现在，这种黄蜂依然以古代苍蝇为食。黄蜂的宿主只要不瘫痪，黄蜂就会继续以其为食并正常生活，寄生在苍蝇的身上，直到最后宿主死亡 。

Another puzzle the natural world was solved when scientists figure out how the annoying dandelion manages to be so good at spreading through the air. Scientists are using this new information as a possible way to create micro flying objects that could stay afloat on wind currents for extended periods of time.

还有一个自然世界的谜题得以解开，那就是：科学家解答了恼人的蒲公英是如何实现在空气中如此强的散播能力的。科学家通过这项新信息作为一种途径来制造微型飞行物，这种飞行物可以借助风流保持漂浮很长的时间。

And finally using The Very Large Telescope in Chile, scientists were able to monitor a small star passing close to a black hole, and see how its light was distorted and warped¹³ by the black holes super gravity. The observation confirmed one of the basic predictions of Einstein’s theory of relativity. The universe is not just made up of space, but a bizarre combination of space and time that can be affected¹⁴ by gravity. Now that was a busy year.

最后解密的是：智利科学家用甚大望远镜观测到了一颗小恒星近距离飞过某黑洞，并观测到了这颗恒星的光是如何因受到黑洞的超引力而发生失真扭曲的。这次观测证实了爱因斯坦相对论的基本预测。宇宙并不是只由空间组成，而是时空的奇异混合体，是可以受到重力影响的。今年这是收获颇丰的一年。

1 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

2 paralysis   

n.麻痹(症)；瘫痪(症)

参考例句：

• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。
• The paralysis affects his right leg and he can only walk with difficulty.他右腿瘫痪步履维艰。

3 frayed   

adj.磨损的v.（使布、绳等）磨损，磨破( fray的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• His shirt was frayed. 他的衬衫穿破了。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The argument frayed their nerves. 争辩使他们不快。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

4 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

5 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

6 mules   

骡( mule的名词复数 )； 拖鞋； 顽固的人； 越境运毒者

参考例句：

• The cart was pulled by two mules. 两匹骡子拉这辆大车。
• She wore tight trousers and high-heeled mules. 她穿紧身裤和拖鞋式高跟鞋。

7 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

8 humble   

adj.谦卑的，恭顺的；地位低下的；v.降低，贬低

参考例句：

• In my humble opinion,he will win the election.依我拙见，他将在选举中获胜。
• Defeat and failure make people humble.挫折与失败会使人谦卑。

9 wasp   

n.黄蜂，蚂蜂

参考例句：

• A wasp stung me on the arm.黄蜂蜇了我的手臂。
• Through the glass we can see the wasp.透过玻璃我们可以看到黄蜂。

10 parasitic   

adj.寄生的

参考例句：

• Will global warming mean the spread of tropical parasitic diseases?全球变暖是否意味着热带寄生虫病会蔓延呢？
• By definition,this way of life is parasitic.从其含义来说，这是种寄生虫的生活方式。

11 wasps   

黄蜂( wasp的名词复数 )； 胡蜂； 易动怒的人； 刻毒的人

参考例句：

• There's a wasps' nest in that old tree. 那棵老树上有一个黄蜂巢。
• We live in dread not only of unpleasant insects like spiders or wasps, but of quite harmless ones like moths. 我们不仅生活在对象蜘蛛或黄蜂这样的小虫的惧怕中，而且生活在对诸如飞蛾这样无害昆虫的惧怕中

12 relatively   

adv.比较...地，相对地

参考例句：

• The rabbit is a relatively recent introduction in Australia.兔子是相对较新引入澳大利亚的物种。
• The operation was relatively painless.手术相对来说不痛。

13 warped   

adj.反常的；乖戾的；（变）弯曲的；变形的v.弄弯，变歪( warp的过去式和过去分词 )；使（行为等）不合情理，使乖戾，

参考例句：

• a warped sense of humour 畸形的幽默感
• The board has warped. 木板翘了。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

14 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。