万物简史 第431期:小生物的世界(2)

 Every human body consists of about 10 quadrillion cells, but about 100 quadrillion bacterial¹ cells. 每个人体大约由1亿亿个细胞组成，但它却是大约10亿亿个细菌细胞的寄主。

They are, in short, a big part of us. 总而言之，细菌是我们的一个很大的组成部分。

From the bacteria's point of view, of course, we are a rather small part of them. 当然，从细菌的角度来看，我们只是它们的一个很小的组成部分。

Because we humans are big and clever enough to produce and utilize² antibiotics³ and disinfectants, 我们人类个儿大，又聪明，能生产使用抗生素和杀菌剂，

it is easy to convince ourselves that we have banished⁴ bacteria to the fringes of existence. 因此很容易认为自己快要把细菌灭绝了。

Don't you believe it. 别相信那种看法。

Bacteria may not build cities or have interesting social lives, but they will be here when the Sun explodes. 细菌也许不会建立城市，不会过有意思的社交生活，但它们到太阳爆炸的时候还会在这里。

This is their planet, and we are on it only because they allow us to be. 这是它们的行星，我们之所以在这里，是因为它们允许我们在这里。

Bacteria, never forget, got along for billions of years without us. 千万不要忘记，细菌已经在没有我们的情况下生活了几十亿年。

We couldn't survive a day without them. 而要是没有它们，我们一天也活不下去。

They process our wastes and make them usable again; without their diligent⁵ munching⁶ nothing would rot. 它们处理我们的废料，使其重新有用；没有它们的辛勤咀嚼，什么也不会腐烂。

They purify our water and keep our soils productive. 它们纯洁我们的水源，使我们的土壤具有生产力。

Bacteria synthesize vitamins in our gut⁷, convert the things we eat into useful sugars and polysaccharides, 它们合成我们肠胃中的维生素，将我们吃进去的东西变成有用的糖和多糖，

and go to war on alien microbes that slip down our gullet. 向溜进我们肠胃系统的外来细菌开战。

We depend totally on bacteria to pluck nitrogen from the air and convert it into useful nucleotides and amino acids for us. 我们完全依靠细菌来采集空气里的氮，将氮转化为对我们有用的核苷酸和氨基酸。

It is a prodigious⁸ and gratifying feat⁹. 这是个令人惊叹而又让人满意的业绩。

As Margulis and Sagan note, to do the same thing industrially (as when making fertilizers) 正如马古利斯和萨根指出的，在工业上要干同样的事（比如在生产肥料的时候），

manufacturers must heat the source materials to 500 degrees centigrade and squeeze them to three hundred times normal pressures. 工厂必须把原材料加热到500摄氏度，挤压到300倍于普通的大气压。

1 bacterial   

a.细菌的

参考例句：

• Bacterial reproduction is accelerated in weightless space. 在失重的空间，细菌繁殖加快了。
• Brain lesions can be caused by bacterial infections. 大脑损伤可能由细菌感染引起。

2 utilize   

vt.使用，利用

参考例句：

• The cook will utilize the leftover ham bone to make soup.厨师要用吃剩的猪腿骨做汤。
• You must utilize all available resources.你必须利用一切可以得到的资源。

3 antibiotics   

n.（用作复数）抗生素；（用作单数）抗生物质的研究；抗生素，抗菌素( antibiotic的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• the discovery of antibiotics in the 20th century 20世纪抗生素的发现
• The doctor gave me a prescription for antibiotics. 医生给我开了抗生素。

4 banished   

v.放逐，驱逐( banish的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• He was banished to Australia, where he died five years later. 他被流放到澳大利亚，五年后在那里去世。
• He was banished to an uninhabited island for a year. 他被放逐到一个无人居住的荒岛一年。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 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。

6 munching   

v.用力咀嚼（某物），大嚼( munch的现在分词 )

参考例句：

• He was munching an apple. 他在津津有味地嚼着苹果。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Munching the apple as he was, he had an eye for all her movements. 他虽然啃着苹果，但却很留神地监视着她的每一个动作。 来自辞典例句

7 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。

8 prodigious   

adj.惊人的，奇妙的；异常的；巨大的；庞大的

参考例句：

• This business generates cash in prodigious amounts.这种业务收益丰厚。
• He impressed all who met him with his prodigious memory.他惊人的记忆力让所有见过他的人都印象深刻。

9 feat   

n.功绩；武艺，技艺；adj.灵巧的，漂亮的，合适的

参考例句：

• Man's first landing on the moon was a feat of great daring.人类首次登月是一个勇敢的壮举。
• He received a medal for his heroic feat.他因其英雄业绩而获得一枚勋章。