TED演讲 获奖青少年,科技在行动(6)

 Hi everyone. I'm Naomi Shah, and today I'll be talking to you about my research involving indoor air quality and asthmatic patients. 大家好，我是劳伦·霍奇，今天我要跟你们讲讲我关于室内空气质量和哮喘病人的研究。

1.6 million deaths worldwide. One death every 20 seconds. People spend over 90 percent of their lives indoors. 在世界范围内有160万，每20秒就有一例死亡。人们90%的生活都在室内。

And the economic burden of asthma¹ exceeds that of HIV and tuberculosis² combined. 哮喘带来的经济负担超过了HIV和肺结核的总合。

Now these statistics had a huge impact on me, 这些统计数据对我产生了重大的影响，

but what really sparked my interest in my research was watching both my dad and my brother suffer from chronic³ allergies⁴ year-round. 但是，真正点燃我研究兴趣的是，看到我爸爸和弟弟受到全年慢性过敏的困扰。

It confused me; why did these allergy⁵ symptoms persist well past the pollen⁶ season? 这让我很困惑；为什么这些过敏症状在花粉季节这么顽固？

With this question in mind, I started researching, and I soon found that indoor air pollutants⁸ were the culprit. 带着这个问题，我开始了研究，我很快发现室内空气污染物是罪魁祸首。

As soon as I realized this, I investigated the underlying⁹ relationship between four prevalent air pollutants 我一发现这一点，就调查了四种广布的空气污染物的关系

and their affect on the lung health of asthmatic patients. 和他们对哮喘病人肺部健康的影响。

At first, I just wanted to figure out which of these four pollutants have the largest negative health impact on the lung health of asthmatic patients. 起初，我只是想弄清楚这四种污染物中哪一种对于哮喘病人的肺部健康来说是最有害的。

But soon after, I developed a novel mathematical model that essentially¹⁰ quantifies the effect of these environmental pollutants on the lung health of asthmatic patients. 但是很快，我建立了一个新型的数学模型，从本质上量化了这些环境污染物对哮喘病人肺部健康的影响。

And it surprises me that no model currently exists that quantifies the effect of environmental factors on human lung health, 让我惊奇的是，目前还没有模型能量化环境因素对人类肺部健康的影响，

because that relationship seems so important. 因为这之间的关系看起来很重要。

So with that in mind, I started researching more, I started investigating more, and I became very passionate¹¹. 带着这种想法，我开始了更多的研究，更多的调查，变得激情澎湃。

Because I realized that if we could find a way to target remediation, we could also find a way to treat asthmatic patients more effectively. 因为，我发现如果我们能找到一个整治环境的方法，我们也能找到一种方法来更有效的治疗哮喘病人。

For example, volatile¹² organic compounds are chemical pollutants that are found in our schools, homes and workplaces. 比如，挥发性有机物是化学性污染物在我们的学校，家里以及办公室都能发现。

They're everywhere. These chemical pollutants are currently not a criteria¹³ air pollutant⁷, as defined by the U.S. Clean Air Act. 它们无处不在，这些化学污染物据美国清洁空气法案定义，目前还不在空气污染物的标准中。

Which is surprising to me, because these chemical pollutants, through my research, 这让我感到惊奇，因为这些化学污染物，根据我的研究，

I show that they had a very large negative impact on the lung health of asthmatic patients and thus should be regulated. 我发现他们对哮喘病人的健康有极其负面的影响因此应该被列入规范中。

 

1 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。

2 tuberculosis   

n.结核病，肺结核

参考例句：

• People used to go to special health spring to recover from tuberculosis.人们常去温泉疗养胜地治疗肺结核。
• Tuberculosis is a curable disease.肺结核是一种可治愈的病。

3 chronic   

adj.(疾病)长期未愈的，慢性的；极坏的

参考例句：

• Famine differs from chronic malnutrition.饥荒不同于慢性营养不良。
• Chronic poisoning may lead to death from inanition.慢性中毒也可能由虚弱导致死亡。

4 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

5 allergy   

n.(因食物、药物等而引起的)过敏症

参考例句：

• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。
• The patient had an allergy to penicillin.该患者对青霉素过敏。

6 pollen   

n.[植]花粉

参考例句：

• Hummingbirds have discovered that nectar and pollen are very nutritious.蜂鸟发现花蜜和花粉是很有营养的。
• He developed an allergy to pollen.他对花粉过敏。

7 pollutant   

n.污染物质，散布污染物质者

参考例句：

• Coal itself is a heavy pollutant.煤本身就是一种严重的污染物。
• Carbon dioxide may not be a typical air pollutant.二氧化碳可能不是一种典型的污染物。

8 pollutants   

污染物质（尤指工业废物）( pollutant的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Pollutants are constantly being released into the atmosphere. 污染物质正在不断地被排放到大气中去。
• The 1987 Amendments limit 301(g) discharges to a few well-studied nonconventional pollutants. 1987年的修正案把第301条（g）的普通排放限制施加在一些认真研究过的几种非常规污染物上。 来自英汉非文学 - 环境法 - 环境法

9 underlying   

adj.在下面的，含蓄的，潜在的

参考例句：

• The underlying theme of the novel is very serious.小说隐含的主题是十分严肃的。
• This word has its underlying meaning.这个单词有它潜在的含义。

10 essentially   

adv.本质上，实质上，基本上

参考例句：

• Really great men are essentially modest.真正的伟人大都很谦虚。
• She is an essentially selfish person.她本质上是个自私自利的人。

11 passionate   

adj.热情的，热烈的，激昂的，易动情的，易怒的，性情暴躁的

参考例句：

• He is said to be the most passionate man.据说他是最有激情的人。
• He is very passionate about the project.他对那个项目非常热心。

12 volatile   

adj.反复无常的，挥发性的，稍纵即逝的，脾气火爆的；n.挥发性物质

参考例句：

• With the markets being so volatile,investments are at great risk.由于市场那么变化不定，投资冒着很大的风险。
• His character was weak and volatile.他这个人意志薄弱，喜怒无常。

13 criteria   

n.标准

参考例句：

• The main criterion is value for money.主要的标准是钱要用得划算。
• There are strict criteria for inclusion in the competition.参赛的标准很严格。