VOA常速英语2019--肯尼亚研究人员研发抗蛇毒血清

Kenyan Researchers Seek East Africa’s First Anti-Venom¹

Beth Mwende mourns the loss of her three-year-old daughter, Mercy.

贝丝·姆温德痛失了她三岁的女儿美慈。 

The girl was bitten by a deadly snake in their hut.

这个女孩在他们的小屋里被一条致命毒蛇咬了。 

Snake bites kill around 700 Kenyans every year.

每年大约有七百名肯尼亚人死于蛇咬。 

She was bitten at night, around 3:00 a.m. the child started crying and vomiting².

她是在晚上被咬的，大约在凌晨三点左右，她开始哭泣并且呕吐。 

I did not know that it was a snake, so I woke up the next morning and went to the river to fetch water.

我不知道她是被蛇咬了，第二天早上我醒来，去河边打水。 

And on my way back, I met my eldest³ daughter, who told me my child is not waking up.

在我回来的路上，我遇到了我的大女儿，她告诉我，我的孩子再没有醒来。 

Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention⁴ Center in Nairobi is working on East Africa’s first anti-venom antidote⁵.

位于内罗毕的肯尼亚毒蛇咬伤研究和干预中心正在研究东非的第一种抗蛇毒血清解毒剂。 

It hopes the product will be ready for market within five years and at a much lower cost than imported anti-venoms.

该公司希望该产品能在五年内上市，而且价格比进口的抗蛇毒血清低得多。 

The snake we’re about to extract the venom from, we call it African Pivara.

这是我们要从其中提取毒液的蛇，我们称它为非洲皮瓦拉。 

This is the most common snake we come across in Africa.

这是在非洲最常见的蛇。 

And also, it seems to bite many people because they tend to hide so well, come a flood with the leaves or dry plants.

而且它似乎经常咬人，因为他们往往隐藏得很好，藏在洪水中、树叶或干燥的植物之下。 

Researchers study the extracted venom before injecting small amounts into donor⁶ animals like sheep.

研究人员先对提取的毒液进行研究，然后向绵羊等供体动物内注射少量毒液。 

The animals produce antibodies which are harvested and purified into the antidote.

这些动物会产生抗体，而后我们会收集这些抗体并将其提纯成解毒剂。 

There are currently two effective anti-venoms available in Kenya from India and Mexico.

目前在肯尼亚，有来自印度和墨西哥的两种有效抗毒血清。 

There are many dangerous snakes at the Kenya Snakebite Research and Intervention Center.

肯尼亚毒蛇咬伤研究和干预中心有许多危险的蛇。 

The puff⁷ adder⁸ is of special interest.

鼓腹巨蝰十分特别。 

Its wide distribution and aggressive nature mean it is responsible for more bites and deaths than any other African snake.

它分布广泛，攻击性强，相比于其它非洲蛇，这种蛇造成了更多的咬伤以及死亡事件。 

1 venom   

n.毒液，恶毒，痛恨

参考例句：

• The snake injects the venom immediately after biting its prey.毒蛇咬住猎物之后马上注入毒液。
• In fact,some components of the venom may benefit human health.事实上，毒液的某些成分可能有益于人类健康。

2 vomiting   

吐

参考例句：

• Symptoms include diarrhoea and vomiting. 症状有腹泻和呕吐。
• Especially when I feel seasick, I can't stand watching someone else vomiting." 尤其晕船的时候，看不得人家呕。”

3 eldest   

adj.最年长的，最年老的

参考例句：

• The King's eldest son is the heir to the throne.国王的长子是王位的继承人。
• The castle and the land are entailed on the eldest son.城堡和土地限定由长子继承。

4 intervention   

n.介入，干涉，干预

参考例句：

• The government's intervention in this dispute will not help.政府对这场争论的干预不会起作用。
• Many people felt he would be hostile to the idea of foreign intervention.许多人觉得他会反对外来干预。

5 antidote   

n.解毒药，解毒剂

参考例句：

• There is no known antidote for this poison.这种毒药没有解药。
• Chinese physicians used it as an antidote for snake poison.中医师用它来解蛇毒。

6 donor   

n.捐献者；赠送人；(组织、器官等的)供体

参考例句：

• In these cases,the recipient usually takes care of the donor afterwards.在这类情况下，接受捐献者以后通常会照顾捐赠者。
• The Doctor transplanted the donor's heart to Mike's chest cavity.医生将捐赠者的心脏移植进麦克的胸腔。

7 puff   

n.一口(气)；一阵(风)；v.喷气，喘气

参考例句：

• He took a puff at his cigarette.他吸了一口香烟。
• They tried their best to puff the book they published.他们尽力吹捧他们出版的书。

8 adder   

n.蝰蛇；小毒蛇

参考例句：

• The adder is Britain's only venomous snake.蝰蛇是英国唯一的一种毒蛇。
• An adder attacked my father.一条小毒蛇攻击了我父亲。