人教全日制普通高中英语（必修）高三UNIT9-2

Modem¹ hospitals are clean and safe and doctors can cure many diseases³. But it was not always so. For a long time, health care was often dangerous and risky⁴. Treatments were neither scientific nor effective, and many patients suffered deadly infections as a result of operations. In fact, even a small cut could cause an infection that would kill the patient. In the early twentieth century, a doctor in London found a chemical that would change hospitals and health care forever. The discovery is a story of hard work and a happy accident.
 
       In the early 1900s, a German chemist developed a chemical treatment for a serious disease² that had been considered incurable⁵. The news of the treatment reached London, where a young doctor named Alexander Fleming began using it in his clinic. In 1914, World War I started and Fleming had to go to France to treat soldiers. During the war, Fleming noticed that many soldiers died from simple infections. Because he had been able to treat infections in his patients in London, Fleming thought that there must be a chemical that could fight infections in the soldiers' wounds. He invented many new ways to treat the wounded, but it was not until after the war that he made his most important discovery.
 
       When Fleming returned from the war, he began searching for the chemical which he believed could treat infections. His first discovery was a chemical found in many body liquids, such as tears. This chemical was able to fight mild infections, but it was not strong enough to cure serious infections. Fleming continued his search until a fortunate incident led him to a new discovery of even greater significance. One day in 1928, Fleming was cleaning up the lab after coming home from a holiday. On a bench by the sink, he found some old glass containers in which he had been growing bacteria. As he was washing the jars and lids, he saw something strange. In one of the jars, a mould⁶ was growing. The existence of the mould did not surprise Fleming, but he also noticed that the bacteria around the mould had died and stopped growing. Could this be the "chemical he was looking for?
 
       Fleming examined the mould carefully. He found out which family of moulds⁸ it belonged to and decided⁹ to call the chemical penicillin¹⁰. He was excited about his discovery and wrote about it in 1929, but other scientists did not seem to care. Despite their lack of interest, Fleming kept trying to develop the chemical so that it would be safe and effective.
 
       It was not until World War II that the importance of Fleming's discovery was fully⁷ recognised. By then, Fleming and two other scientists had developed a kind of penicillin that was very effective in curing infections. The chemical, the "good mould", saved many lives during the war and has continued to fight diseases ever since. In 1945, Sir Alexander Fleming received the Nobel Prize together with the two other scientists. When asked about his discovery, Sir Alexander Fleming said: "One sometimes finds what one is not looking for."

1 modem   

n.调制解调器

参考例句：

• Does your computer have a modem?你的电脑有调制解调器吗？
• Provides a connection to your computer via a modem.通过调制解调器连接到计算机上。

2 disease   

n.疾病，弊端

参考例句：

• The doctors are trying to stamp out the disease.医生正在尽力消灭这种疾病。
• He fought against the disease for a long time.他同疾病做了长时间的斗争。

3 diseases   

n.疾病( disease的名词复数 )；弊端；恶疾；痼疾

参考例句：

• Smoking is a causative factor in several major diseases. 抽烟是引起几种严重疾病的病因。
• The illness frequently coexists with other chronic diseases. 这种病往往与其他慢性病同时存在。

4 risky   

adj.有风险的，冒险的

参考例句：

• It may be risky but we will chance it anyhow.这可能有危险，但我们无论如何要冒一冒险。
• He is well aware how risky this investment is.他心里对这项投资的风险十分清楚。

5 incurable   

adj.不能医治的，不能矫正的，无救的；n.不治的病人，无救的人

参考例句：

• All three babies were born with an incurable heart condition.三个婴儿都有不可治瘉的先天性心脏病。
• He has an incurable and widespread nepotism.他们有不可救药的，到处蔓延的裙带主义。

6 mould   

n.模子，模型，霉，霉菌，气质；vt.浇铸

参考例句：

• He will mould a child into an excellent basketball player.他把孩子造就成为一个优秀的篮球运动员。
• This is a mould of pudding.这是在模子中做成的布丁。

7 fully   

adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地

参考例句：

• The doctor asked me to breathe in,then to breathe out fully.医生让我先吸气，然后全部呼出。
• They soon became fully integrated into the local community.他们很快就完全融入了当地人的圈子。

8 moulds   

n.铸模( mould的名词复数 )；模型；性格；霉v.用模子做( mould的第三人称单数 )；对…影响重大；将…塑造成；（使）紧贴于

参考例句：

• This punch can strike out four moulds at a time. 这台冲床能一次冲出四只模子。 来自辞典例句
• Different fossils have been preserved in different ways-some as moulds or casts. 不同类别的化石是以不同的方式保存下来的――有的如同模型或模压品。 来自辞典例句

9 decided   

adj.决定了的，坚决的；明显的，明确的

参考例句：

• This gave them a decided advantage over their opponents.这使他们比对手具有明显的优势。
• There is a decided difference between British and Chinese way of greeting.英国人和中国人打招呼的方式有很明显的区别。

10 penicillin   

n.青霉素，盘尼西林

参考例句：

• I should have asked him for a shot of penicillin.我应当让他给我打一针青霉素的。
• Penicillin was an extremely significant medical discovery.青霉素是极其重要的医学发现。