TED演讲:生病时感到难受的惊人原因(1)

 　　It starts with a tickle¹ in your throat that becomes a cough. 你一开始是喉咙痒，而后转为咳嗽。

　　Your muscles begin to ache, you grow irritable², and you lose your appetite. It's official: you've got the flu. 肌肉开始疼痛，逐渐烦躁不安，并且丧失食欲。事实证明：你得了流行性感冒。

　　It's logical to assume that this miserable³ medley⁴ of symptoms is the result of the infection coursing through your body,  合理地推断，这些多种难受症状是流经你身体的感染所导致，

　　but is that really the case? 但真的是那样吗？

　　What's actually making you feel sick? 到底是什么让你觉得生病了？

　　What if your body itself was driving this vicious onslaught? 如果是身体自己不得不发起这猛烈的攻击呢？

　　You first get ill when a pathogen like the flu virus gets into your system, infecting and killing⁵ your cells. 发病初起，像流感病毒类的病原体侵入你的身体，感染并杀死细胞。

　　But this unwelcome intrusion has another effect: it alerts your body's immune system to your plight⁶. 但这令人讨厌的入侵有另一效应：它让身体的免疫系统警觉到这个危险的状况。

　　As soon as it becomes aware of infection, your body leaps to your defense⁷. 一旦它察觉到感染，身体会迅速启动防卫。

　　Cells called macrophages charge in as the first line of attack, searching for and destroying the viruses and infected cells. 巨噬细胞会当攻击先锋队冲向感染区，搜寻并杀死病毒及受感染的细胞。

　　Afterwards, the macrophages release protein molecules⁸ called cytokines 然后，巨噬细胞释放称为细胞因子的蛋白质分子，

　　whose job is to recruit and organize more virus-busting cells from your immune system. 它的任务是从免疫系统中动员并组织更多的搜捕病毒的细胞。

　　If this coordinated⁹ effort is strong enough, it'll wipe out the infection before you even notice it. 如果这协同作用力够强，它甚至在你觉得生病前就会歼灭这感染。

　　But that's just your body setting the scene for some real action. 但这只是身体为真正的战争做准备而已。

　　In some cases, viruses spread further, even into the blood and vital organs. 某些状况，病毒会进一步扩散，甚至侵入血液及重要器官。

　　To avoid this sometimes dangerous fate, your immune system must launch a stronger attack, coordinating¹⁰ its activity with the brain. 为避免这偶发的危险后果，免疫系统必须发动更强的反击，协同脑部一起展开行动。

1 tickle   

v.搔痒，胳肢；使高兴；发痒；n.搔痒，发痒

参考例句：

• Wilson was feeling restless. There was a tickle in his throat.威尔逊只觉得心神不定。嗓子眼里有些发痒。
• I am tickle pink at the news.听到这消息我高兴得要命。

2 irritable   

adj.急躁的；过敏的；易怒的

参考例句：

• He gets irritable when he's got toothache.他牙一疼就很容易发脾气。
• Our teacher is an irritable old lady.She gets angry easily.我们的老师是位脾气急躁的老太太。她很容易生气。

3 miserable   

adj.悲惨的，痛苦的；可怜的，糟糕的

参考例句：

• It was miserable of you to make fun of him.你取笑他，这是可耻的。
• Her past life was miserable.她过去的生活很苦。

4 medley   

n.混合

参考例句：

• Today's sports meeting doesn't seem to include medley relay swimming.现在的运动会好象还没有混合接力泳这个比赛项目。
• China won the Men's 200 metres Individual Medley.中国赢得了男子200米个人混合泳比赛。

5 killing   

n.巨额利润；突然赚大钱，发大财

参考例句：

• Investors are set to make a killing from the sell-off.投资者准备清仓以便大赚一笔。
• Last week my brother made a killing on Wall Street.上个周我兄弟在华尔街赚了一大笔。

6 plight   

n.困境，境况，誓约，艰难；vt.宣誓，保证，约定

参考例句：

• The leader was much concerned over the plight of the refugees.那位领袖对难民的困境很担忧。
• She was in a most helpless plight.她真不知如何是好。

7 defense   

n.防御，保卫；[pl.]防务工事；辩护，答辩

参考例句：

• The accused has the right to defense.被告人有权获得辩护。
• The war has impacted the area with military and defense workers.战争使那个地区挤满了军队和防御工程人员。

8 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 coordinated   

adj.协调的

参考例句：

• The sound has to be coordinated with the picture. 声音必须和画面协调一致。
• The numerous existing statutes are complicated and poorly coordinated. 目前繁多的法令既十分复杂又缺乏快调。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

10 coordinating   

v.使协调，使调和( coordinate的现在分词 )；协调；协同；成为同等

参考例句：

• He abolished the Operations Coordinating Board and the Planning Board. 他废除了行动协调委员会和计划委员会。 来自辞典例句
• He's coordinating the wedding, and then we're not going to invite him? 他是来协调婚礼的，难道我们不去请他？ 来自电影对白