VOA慢速英语2009年-SCIENCE IN THE NEWS - How Nine Researc

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS, in VOA Special English. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Mario Ritter. Today, we will tell about the two thousand nine Nobel Prizes for discoveries in science. We also will tell about progress against acquired immune deficiency syndrome¹, better known as AIDS.

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VOICE ONE:

The Nobel Prizes for Chemistry, Physics and Physiology² or Medicine are to be presented in Sweden this week. The winners were chosen by the Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences. They will receive their prizes at ceremonies in Stockholm on December tenth. The winners in each area of science will share a prize valued at one million four hundred thousand dollars.

Nobel week is a busy time in the Swedish capital. The winners make speeches, meet with reporters and attend parties. But the most important event is when the King of Sweden presents the honorees with their awards.

VOICE TWO:

Elizabeth Blackburn

Among those expected to accept their prizes are Elizabeth Blackburn, Carol Greider and Jack³ Szostak. They share the Nobel Prize for Physiology or Medicine. This year, it is presented for solving a problem in biology.

The three honorees are working in the United States. Elizabeth Blackburn does her research at the University of California in San Francisco. Carol Greider works at the Johns Hopkins University School of Medicine in Maryland. Jack Szostak works from the Harvard University Medical School, the Massachusetts General Hospital and the Howard Hughes Medical Institute.

VOICE ONE:

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences says it is honoring the researchers for showing how telomeres and the enzyme⁴ that makes them protect chromosomes⁶.

A telomere is a structure of genetic⁷ material. Telomerase is the enzyme in the body that builds the telomeres. A chromosome⁵ contains molecules⁸ of deoxyribonucleic acid, better known as DNA⁹. This material carries the genetic information that makes us who we are. A telomere is at each end of a chromosome. Telomeres are necessary for a cell to divide.

The identification of telomeres about twenty years ago helped scientists understand how cells operate. But it was a finding that did not at first seem important to everyday life. Scientists now know that telomeres are involved in two subjects of widespread interest – aging and cancer.

VOICE TWO:

The winners of the Nobel Prize in Physiology or Medicine were involved in the findings. Elizabeth Blackburn and Jack Szostak discovered the exact order of genetic information that protects chromosomes from ruin. They found that cells age if telomeres are shortened. For example, the first genetic copy of a sheep had shortened telomeres. The cloned animal started to suffer from arthritis¹⁰ at an age that some experts thought was unusually early for a sheep.

Miz Blackburn and Carol Greider identified the enzyme telomerase. Cells do not die as fast if a lot of telomerase is produced, so aging is slowed. But studies suggest that cancer cells may use telomerase to divide in abnormal ways.

The winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine are all American citizens. Mister Szostak came to the United States from England. Miz Blackburn was born in Australia and is also an Australian citizen.

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VOICE ONE:

Another woman, an Israeli, is a winner of the Nobel Prize in Chemistry. She is Ada Yonath of the Weitzmann Institute of Science in Rehovot, Israel.

She is sharing the prize with two male researchers. They are Venkatraman Ramakrishnan of the MRC Laboratory of Molecular¹¹ Biology at Cambridge University in England, and Thomas Steitz of Yale University in New Haven¹², Connecticut. Mister Ramakrishnan is a British citizen, and Mister Steitz is an American.

The Royal Swedish Academy of Sciences is honoring all three researchers for studies of the structure and operation of a kind of cell called a ribosome. The Academy said the three were chosen for having shown what a ribosome looks like and how it operates at the atomic level.

VOICE TWO:

The researchers demonstrated how information in pieces of DNA is translated into the thousands of proteins contained in living matter.

Each researcher worked independently. They made maps that placed hundreds of thousands of atoms in the ribosomes. Some of their work involved X-rays produced by particle accelerators, devices that bring atomic particles into high energies.

The Royal Swedish Academy says the DNA in cells contains the designs for how people, plants and bacteria look and operate. But if there were nothing beyond the DNA in cells, life could not exist.

VOICE ONE:

Ribosomes change the design into living matter of all kinds. They make proteins including oxygen-carrying blood substances, antibodies to protect against disease, and substances that break down sugar.

Many antibiotic¹³ medicines currently in use block bacterial¹⁴ ribosomes from action. Bacteria cannot survive without bacterial ribosomes. Each Nobel Prize winner showed how ribosomes tie or bind¹⁵ with antibiotics¹⁶. The Academy says new medicines could result from the work of the Nobel Prize winners in chemistry.

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VOICE TWO:

The Nobel Prize in Physics is going to three scientists who brought the light of knowledge to the subject of light. Half the prize money will go to Charles K. Kao. He did his award-winning work at the Chinese University of Hong Kong, China and at the Standard Telecommunication¹⁷ Laboratories in Britain.

The other two winners are Willard Boyle and George Smith. They did their research at Bell Laboratories in Murray Hill, New Jersey¹⁸. Mister Boyle and Mister Smith will share the remaining prize money equally.

VOICE ONE:

Mister Kao discovered how to transmit, or send, light signals over long distances through optical glass fibers²⁰. He learned to get light to go far enough down a glass fiber¹⁹ to pass on signals. The signals can travel great distances. His work has made possible the development of communications carried around the world by the Internet.

When Mister Kao began his research twenty years ago, fiber optic materials already existed. But they were short by comparison with today. Mister Kao's work helped result in the fact that, if lined up, the current optical cables would make a fiber more than nine hundred sixty-five million kilometers long.

VOICE TWO:

A CCD image sensor²¹ built by engineers at Bell Labs

Mister Boyle and Mister Smith invented the charge-coupled device, or CCD. The device can turn light into electrical signals. It provided technology for telescopes, medical images and digital cameras. The Royal Swedish Academy says the researchers' work has made possible great developments in those areas.

For example, doctors are able to use better instruments to examine organs in the body. And, many people now use cameras that do not require film.

Mister Kao was born in Shanghai, China. He is a citizen of the United States and Britain. Mister Boyle was born in Canada and is a citizen of Canada and the United States. Mister Smith is an American.

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VOICE ONE:

December first was World AIDS Day. A new report about AIDS and the virus responsible for the disease provided some reason to celebrate.

Experts say the number of new H.I.V. infections has fallen by seventeen percent since two thousand one. H.I.V. is short for the human immunodeficiency virus. The experts say estimates of new H.I.V. infections are down by about fifteen percent in Africa, south of the Sahara Desert. And, new infections have decreased almost twenty-five percent in East Asia. In Eastern Europe, the number of new H.I.V. infections has leveled off. But new infections appear to be rising again in some countries.

VOICE TWO:

The numbers come from a report by the UNAIDS program and the World Health Organization. It says H.I.V.-related deaths appear to have reached their highest level in two thousand four. Since then, deaths have fallen by around ten percent as more people have received treatment.

Experts credit the good news in the report, at least in part, to prevention programs. Yet treatments and population growth mean that more people than ever are living with H.I.V. The latest estimates say almost thirty-three million five hundred thousand have the virus. There were two million AIDS-related deaths last year, and two million seven hundred thousand new infections.

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VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Jerilyn Watson and Caty Weaver²². Our producer was Brianna Blake. I'm Doug Johnson.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Mario Ritter. Listen again next week for more news about science in Special English on the Voice of America.

　
 

1 syndrome   

n.综合病症；并存特性

参考例句：

• The Institute says that an unidentified virus is to blame for the syndrome. 该研究所表示,引起这种综合症的是一种尚未确认的病毒。
• Results indicated that 11 fetuses had Down syndrome. 结果表明有11个胎儿患有唐氏综合征。

2 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

3 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

4 enzyme   

n.酵素，酶

参考例句：

• Above a certain temperature,the enzyme molecule will become unfolded.超过一定温度，酶分子将会展开。
• An enzyme that dissolves the fibrin of blood clots.能溶解血凝块中的纤维的酶。

5 chromosome   

n.染色体

参考例句：

• Chromosome material with exhibits of such behaviour is called heterochromatin.表现这种现象的染色体物质叫做异染色质。
• A segment of the chromosome may become lost,resulting in a deletion.染色体的一个片段可能会丢失，结果产生染色体的缺失。

6 chromosomes   

n.染色体( chromosome的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Chromosomes also determine the sex of animals. 染色体也决定动物的性别。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Each of four chromosomes divide longitudinally. 四种染色体的每一种都沿着纵向分裂。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 genetic   

adj.遗传的，遗传学的

参考例句：

• It's very difficult to treat genetic diseases.遗传性疾病治疗起来很困难。
• Each daughter cell can receive a full complement of the genetic information.每个子细胞可以收到遗传信息的一个完全补偿物。

8 molecules   

分子( molecule的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• The structure of molecules can be seen under an electron microscope. 分子的结构可在电子显微镜下观察到。
• Inside the reactor the large molecules are cracked into smaller molecules. 在反应堆里，大分子裂变为小分子。

9 DNA   

(缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸

参考例句：

• DNA is stored in the nucleus of a cell.脱氧核糖核酸储存于细胞的细胞核里。
• Gene mutations are alterations in the DNA code.基因突变是指DNA密码的改变。

10 arthritis   

n.关节炎

参考例句：

• Rheumatoid arthritis has also been linked with the virus.风湿性关节炎也与这种病毒有关。
• He spent three months in the hospital with acute rheumatic arthritis.他患急性风湿性关节炎，在医院住了三个月。

11 molecular   

adj.分子的；克分子的

参考例句：

• The research will provide direct insight into molecular mechanisms.这项研究将使人能够直接地了解分子的机理。
• For the pressure to become zero, molecular bombardment must cease.当压强趋近于零时，分子的碰撞就停止了。

12 haven   

n.安全的地方，避难所，庇护所

参考例句：

• It's a real haven at the end of a busy working day.忙碌了一整天后，这真是一个安乐窝。
• The school library is a little haven of peace and quiet.学校的图书馆是一个和平且安静的小避风港。

13 antibiotic   

adj.抗菌的；n.抗生素

参考例句：

• The doctor said that I should take some antibiotic.医生说我应该服些用抗生素。
• Antibiotic can be used against infection.抗菌素可以用来防止感染。

14 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。

15 bind   

vt.捆，包扎；装订；约束；使凝固；vi.变硬

参考例句：

• I will let the waiter bind up the parcel for you.我让服务生帮你把包裹包起来。
• He wants a shirt that does not bind him.他要一件不使他觉得过紧的衬衫。

16 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。

17 telecommunication   

n.电信，远距离通信

参考例句：

• Telecommunication is an industry of service.电信业是一个服务型的行业。
• I only care about the telecommunication quality and the charge.我只关心通信质量和资费两个方面。

18 jersey   

n.运动衫

参考例句：

• He wears a cotton jersey when he plays football.他穿运动衫踢足球。
• They were dressed alike in blue jersey and knickers.他们穿着一致，都是蓝色的运动衫和灯笼短裤。

19 fiber   

n.纤维，纤维质

参考例句：

• The basic structural unit of yarn is the fiber.纤维是纱的基本结构单元。
• The material must be free of fiber clumps.这种材料必须无纤维块。

20 fibers   

光纤( fiber的名词复数 )； （织物的）质地； 纤维，纤维物质

参考例句：

• Thesolution of collagen-PVA was wet spined with the sodium sulfate as coagulant and collagen-PVA composite fibers were prepared. 在此基础上，以硫酸钠为凝固剂，对胶原-PVA共混溶液进行湿法纺丝，制备了胶原-PVA复合纤维。
• Sympathetic fibers are distributed to all regions of the heart. 交感神经纤维分布于心脏的所有部分。

21 sensor   

n.传感器，探测设备，感觉器（官）

参考例句：

• The temperature sensor is enclosed in a protective well.温度传感器密封在保护套管中。
• He plugged the sensor into a outlet.他把传感器插进电源插座。

22 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。