听力文摘：人类接近长寿的又一步

One Step Closer to Living Longer

人类接近长寿的又一步

D: You know, when I watch futuristic sci-fi movies, I notice everyone has a normal aging pattern. You don't encounter¹ people who just having been107 years old. That's probably a mistake.

我看未来派科幻电影的时候，发觉里面的人物年龄都是很正常的，就像我们普通人一样，活不了特别长。在这种电影里，你根本就不可能会看到一个活到一百多岁的人。我个人觉得这有问题。

Y: A mistake? Why?

有问题？你又有何凭证？

D: Because science is giving us longer lifespans all the time. Researchers these days are even starting to understand how the body sends signals² to itself, determining how it ages.

因为科学一直以来都致力于延长人们寿命的研究。近日，又有了突破性的进展。

Y: Now, that sounds like science fiction！

这样听来倒真的像是科幻小说了！

D: It's true. A study conducted by James Carey and his colleagues³ at the University of California⁴, for example, found a link between how long a mouse lives and its ovaries.

这可是真的。比如说吧，加利佛利亚大学的James Carey和他的同事们进行了一项研究，他们发现老鼠的寿命和它的卵巢有很大关联。

Y: Its ovaries? What do they have to do with the aging?

卵巢？卵巢和寿命会有什么关系啊？

D: The researchers removed the ovaries of one set of mice when they were a few weeks old. Those mice didn’t live as long as mice who still had their ovaries. Another group of mice had their ovaries removed but got young ones later.The mice with the young ovaries implanted into them lived forty percent longer than the ones who kept their original ovaries, and sixty percent longer than the ones with no ovaries at all!

研究人员准备了三组老鼠。在老鼠几星期大的时候，他们将一组老鼠的卵巢切除。结果表明，被切除卵巢的一组老鼠没有未被切除卵巢的一组老鼠长寿。另外还有一组老鼠被切除了卵巢，但后来又被植入了年轻的卵巢。被植入年轻卵巢的一组老鼠比未被切除卵巢的一组老鼠寿命长40%，比被切除卵巢的一组老鼠寿命整整长了60%！

Y: Yalza! Sixty percent longer！？

啊！60%！？

D: Some chemical message is being sent from the ovaries to the rest of the body, telling it what stage of life it is in. By renewing⁵ their ovaries, the scientists were essentially⁶ able to set the clock back.

卵巢可以将某些化学信息传送至身体的其他部分，生命究竟处于哪个阶段。科学家们再将卵巢植入老鼠体内，可以说是让时光倒流了。

Y: So who wants mice to live longer?

谁那么无聊，想要让老鼠长寿啊？

D: Mice are just test. If we could understand how the body tells itself to age, maybe we could make other species⁷ live longer…like people.

老鼠只是试验品。如果说我们能搞清楚老鼠的身体是怎样来发送有关年龄的信息的，有可能，我们就能使其他物种长寿些……比如，人类！

1 encounter   

v.遇到，偶然碰到；遭遇；n.遭遇；意外的相见

参考例句：

• It was a bloody encounter between the two armies. 这是那两军之间的一次激烈的遭遇战。
• A fortunate encounter brought the two friends together after a long separation.两位老朋友长期分离这次才有幸相遇。

2 signals   

n.信号( signal的名词复数 )；（无线电或电视所传送的）讯号；标志；（尤指铁路和公路上的）指示灯v.发信号，用信号传达，用信号通讯( signal的第三人称单数 )；发暗号；示意

参考例句：

• signals transmitted from a satellite 从卫星传送来的信号
• This metal tower is used to relay television signals to distant villages. 这个金属塔是用于向遥远的村子转播电视讯号的。 来自《简明英汉词典》

3 colleagues   

n.同事，同僚( colleague的名词复数 )；同人

参考例句：

• He wanted to confer with his colleagues before reaching a decision. 他想与他的同事先商议一下再作出决定。
• She is held in high esteem by her colleagues. 她深受同事的敬重。

4 California   

n.加利福尼亚(美国)

参考例句：

• He was elected governor of the state of California.他当选为加州州长。
• We were driving on a California freeway.我们正沿着加利福尼亚的一条快车道驾车行驶。

5 renewing   

（使）复原， （使）更新，赋予新的生命和活力( renew的现在分词 )； 重新开始； 继续； 补充

参考例句：

• He feels his youth renewing. 他觉得越活越年轻了。
• A lot of the cost of maintenance went into renewing brakes. 很多的维修费用都花在了更换刹车方面。

6 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。

7 species   

n.物种，种群

参考例句：

• Are we the only thinking species in the whole of creation?我们是万物中惟一有思想的物种吗？
• This species of bird now exists only in Africa.这种鸟现在只存在于非洲。