万物简史 第454期:小生物的世界(25)

 Some went on in this manner for months before dying. 有的几个月处于那种状态，然后死去。

A very few survived and regained¹ consciousness but not their former liveliness. 极少的人幸免于难，恢复了知觉，但不再像以往那样充满活力。

They existed in a state of profound apathy², "like extinct volcanoes," in the words of one doctor. 他们处于没清打采的状态，用一位医生的话来说，“犹如一座座死火山”。

In ten years the disease killed some five million people and then quietly went away. 这种病在10年时间里致使大约500万人死亡，然后悄地消失了。

It didn't get much lasting³ attention because in the meantime an even worse epidemic⁴——indeed, the worst in history——swept across the world. 它没有引起太久的重视，因为同时另一种更可怕的流行病——实际上是历史上最可怕的流行病——正在世界各地传播。

It is sometimes called the Great Swine Flu epidemic and sometimes the Great Spanish Flu epidemic, but in either case it was ferocious⁵. 那种病有时候被称之为“猪大流感”，有时候被称之为“西班牙大流感”，但无论如何是很凶猛的。

World War I killed twenty-one million people in four years; swine flu did the same in its first four months. 第一次世界大战在4年内使2100万人丧生；猪大流感在头4个月里就造成了同样的结果。

Almost 80 percent of American casualties in the First World War came not from enemy fire, but from flu. 第一次世界大战期间，在美军的伤亡人数中，差不多80%不是敌人的炮火而是流感造成的，

In some units the mortality rate was as high as 80 percent. 有的部队死亡率高达80%。

Swine flu arose as a normal, nonlethal flu in the spring of 1918, but somehow over the following months, 1918年春天，猪大流感以一种不致命的普通流感的症状出现然而在随后的几个月里，

no one knows how or where—it mutated into something more severe. 不知怎的——谁也不知道以什么方式，在什么地方——那种疾病变得严重起来。

A fifth of victims suffered only mild symptoms, but the rest became gravely ill and often died. 五分之一的病人只有很轻的症状，但其余的病得很重，许多人死亡。

Some succumbed⁶ within hours; others held on for a few days. 有的在几个小时里就倒下了；有的只坚持了几天。

In the United States, the first deaths were recorded among sailors in Boston in late August 1918, 擗记载，美国的第一批死者是波士顿的海员，那是在1918年8月来。

but the epidemic quickly spread to all parts of the country. 流行病很快就传播到全国各地。

Schools closed, public entertainments were shut down, people everywhere wore masks. 学校停课，公共娱乐场所关门，人们都戴着口罩。

It did little good. 这么做没有起多大作用。

1 regained   

复得( regain的过去式和过去分词 )； 赢回； 重回； 复至某地

参考例句：

• The majority of the people in the world have regained their liberty. 世界上大多数人已重获自由。
• She hesitated briefly but quickly regained her poise. 她犹豫片刻，但很快恢复了镇静。

2 apathy   

n.漠不关心，无动于衷；冷淡

参考例句：

• He was sunk in apathy after his failure.他失败后心恢意冷。
• She heard the story with apathy.她听了这个故事无动于衷。

3 lasting   

adj.永久的，永恒的；vbl.持续，维持

参考例句：

• The lasting war debased the value of the dollar.持久的战争使美元贬值。
• We hope for a lasting settlement of all these troubles.我们希望这些纠纷能获得永久的解决。

4 epidemic   

n.流行病；盛行；adj.流行性的，流传极广的

参考例句：

• That kind of epidemic disease has long been stamped out.那种传染病早已绝迹。
• The authorities tried to localise the epidemic.当局试图把流行病限制在局部范围。

5 ferocious   

adj.凶猛的，残暴的，极度的，十分强烈的

参考例句：

• The ferocious winds seemed about to tear the ship to pieces.狂风仿佛要把船撕成碎片似的。
• The ferocious panther is chasing a rabbit.那只凶猛的豹子正追赶一只兔子。

6 succumbed   

不再抵抗（诱惑、疾病、攻击等）( succumb的过去式和过去分词 )； 屈从； 被压垮； 死

参考例句：

• The town succumbed after a short siege. 该城被围困不久即告失守。
• After an artillery bombardment lasting several days the town finally succumbed. 在持续炮轰数日后，该城终于屈服了。