万物简史 第430期:小生物的世界(1)

 20 Small World 第二十章 小生物的世界

It's probably not a good idea to take too personal an interest in your microbes. 要是你对身边的微生物过于在意，这很可能不是个好习惯。

Louis Pasteur, the great French chemist and bacteriologist, 法国大化学家、微生物学家路易·巴斯德

became so preoccupied¹ with them that he took to peering critically at every dish placed before him with a magnifying glass, 对他身边的微生物如此小心，连放到面前的每盆菜肴都要用放大镜仔细看一眼。

a habit that presumably did not win him many repeat invitations to dinner. 由于他的这种习惯，很多人有可能不会再邀请他吃饭。

In fact, there is no point in trying to hide from your bacteria, for they are on and around you always, in numbers you can't conceive. 实际上，你也无须回避细菌，因为你的身上和周围总是有很多细菌，多得简直无法想象。

If you are in good health and averagely diligent² about hygiene³, 即使你身体很健康，而且总的来说很注意卫生，

you will have a herd⁴ of about one trillion bacteria grazing on your fleshy plains— about a hundred thousand of them on every square centimeter of skin. 也大约有一万亿个细菌在你的皮肤上进食——每平方厘米上有10万个左右。

They are there to dine off the ten billion or so flakes⁵ of skin you shed every day, 它们在那里吃掉100亿片左右你每天脱落的皮屑，

plus all the tasty oils and fortifying⁶ minerals that seep⁷ out from every pore and fissure⁸. 再加上从每个毛孔和组织里流出来的味道不错的油脂，以及强身壮体的矿物质。

You are for them the ultimate food court, with the convenience of warmth and constant mobility⁹ thrown in. 你是它们举行冷餐会的场所，还具有暖暖和和、不停地移动的便利条件。

By way of thanks, they give you B.O. 为了表示感激，它们给你体臭。

And those are just the bacteria that inhabit your skin. 上面说的只是寄生在你皮肤上的细菌。

There are trillions more tucked away in your gut¹⁰ and nasal passages, clinging to your hair and eyelashes, 还有几万亿个细菌钻进你的肠胃里和鼻孔里，粘在你的头发和睫毛上，

swimming over the surface of your eyes, drilling through the enamel¹¹ of your teeth. 在你的眼睛表面游泳，在你的牙龈上打孔。

Your digestive system alone is host to more than a hundred trillion microbes, of at least four hundred types. 光你的消化系统就是100万亿个以上细菌的寄主，至少有400多个品种。

Some deal with sugars, some with starches¹², some attack other bacteria. 有的分解糖，有的处理淀粉，有的向别的细菌发起攻击。

A surprising number, like the ubiquitous intestinal¹³ spirochetes, have no detectable¹⁴ function at all. 许多细菌没有明显的作用，比如无处不在的肠内螺旋体。

They just seem to like to be with you. 它们似乎只喜欢跟你在一起。

1 preoccupied   

adj.全神贯注的，入神的；被抢先占有的；心事重重的v.占据（某人）思想，使对…全神贯注，使专心于( preoccupy的过去式)

参考例句：

• He was too preoccupied with his own thoughts to notice anything wrong. 他只顾想着心事，没注意到有什么不对。
• The question of going to the Mount Tai preoccupied his mind. 去游泰山的问题盘踞在他心头。 来自《简明英汉词典》

2 diligent   

adj.勤勉的，勤奋的

参考例句：

• He is the more diligent of the two boys.他是这两个男孩中较用功的一个。
• She is diligent and keeps herself busy all the time.她真勤快，一会儿也不闲着。

3 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

4 herd   

n.兽群，牧群；vt.使集中，把…赶在一起

参考例句：

• She drove the herd of cattle through the wilderness.她赶着牛群穿过荒野。
• He had no opinions of his own but simply follow the herd.他从无主见，只是人云亦云。

5 flakes   

小薄片( flake的名词复数 )； （尤指）碎片； 雪花； 古怪的人

参考例句：

• It's snowing in great flakes. 天下着鹅毛大雪。
• It is snowing in great flakes. 正值大雪纷飞。

6 fortifying   

筑防御工事于( fortify的现在分词 )； 筑堡于； 增强； 强化（食品）

参考例句：

• Fortifying executive function and restraining impulsivity are possible with active interventions. 积极干预可能有助加强执行功能和抑制冲动性。
• Vingo stopped looking, tightening his face, fortifying himself against still another disappointment. 文戈不再张望，他绷紧脸，仿佛正在鼓足勇气准备迎接另一次失望似的。

7 seep   

v.渗出，渗漏；n.渗漏，小泉，水（油）坑

参考例句：

• My anger began to seep away.我的怒火开始消下去了。
• If meteoric water does not evaporate or run overland,it may seep directly into the ground.如果雨水不从陆地蒸发和流走的话，就可能直接渗入地下。

8 fissure   

n.裂缝；裂伤

参考例句：

• Though we all got out to examine the fissure,he remained in the car.我们纷纷下车察看那个大裂缝，他却呆在车上。
• Ground fissure is the main geological disaster in Xi'an city construction.地裂缝是西安市主要的工程地质灾害问题。

9 mobility   

n.可动性，变动性，情感不定

参考例句：

• The difference in regional house prices acts as an obstacle to mobility of labour.不同地区房价的差异阻碍了劳动力的流动。
• Mobility is very important in guerrilla warfare.机动性在游击战中至关重要。

10 gut   

n.[pl.]胆量；内脏；adj.本能的；vt.取出内脏

参考例句：

• It is not always necessary to gut the fish prior to freezing.冷冻鱼之前并不总是需要先把内脏掏空。
• My immediate gut feeling was to refuse.我本能的直接反应是拒绝。

11 enamel   

n.珐琅，搪瓷，瓷釉；(牙齿的)珐琅质

参考例句：

• I chipped the enamel on my front tooth when I fell over.我跌倒时门牙的珐琅质碰碎了。
• He collected coloured enamel bowls from Yugoslavia.他藏有来自南斯拉夫的彩色搪瓷碗。

12 starches   

n.淀粉( starch的名词复数 )；含淀粉的食物；浆粉v.把（衣服、床单等）浆一浆( starch的第三人称单数 )

参考例句：

• You should avoid sugars and starches. 你应避免吃糖和含淀粉的食物。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Cotton and rayon yarns are most often sized with water-insoluble starches. 棉和人造丝纱多用不溶于水的淀粉上浆。 来自互联网

13 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句

14 detectable   

adj.可发觉的；可查明的

参考例句：

• The noise is barely detectable by the human ear.人的耳朵几乎是察觉不到这种噪音的。
• The inflection point at this PH is barely detectable.在此PH值下，拐点不易发现。