国家地理 为什么病毒让我们措手不及(1)

In the first weeks of the coronavirus pandemic, I couldn't bear to read about our collective early missteps. Not only because the implicit¹ rebuke² felt futile³ -- what was the point in knowing that the grim reality we were living could have been avoided? -- but because, in my case, it also felt deeply personal. Each article I read about missing the warning signs of a devastating⁴ new virus reminded me that decades ago, scientists had been worrying about that very thing, and a few science journalists were writing about their alarm. I was one of them.

在新型冠状病毒刚开始大流行的前几个星期，我不忍阅读人类在疫病初期犯了哪些错误的报道。不仅因为其中隐含的谴责意味于事无补，知道我们本来可以避免现在的残酷现实有何意义？也因为这件事对我而言还牵涉到深刻的个人感受。每看到一篇报道谈论我们如何疏忽了一个威力强大的新病毒的警讯，都让我想起这正是科学家几十年前就在担心的事，少数科学记者也报道了他们的担忧，而我就是其中之一。

When I started researching this in 1990, the term "emerging viruses" had just been coined by a young virologist, Stephen Morse. He would become the main character in my book A Dancing Matrix, published three years later. I described him then as an assistant professor straight out of central casting: earnest, bespectacled, a man who lived life largely in the mind.

我在1990年开始研究这个主题时，“新兴病毒”一词刚由一位年轻的病毒学家斯蒂芬·莫尔斯提出，他成为我出版的《跳舞的基质》书中主角。当时我笔下的他完全符合一名助理教授该有的样子：认真、戴着眼镜，大部分时间活在思考中。

Morse and other scientists were identifying conditions -- climate change, massive urbanization, the proximity⁵ of humans to farm or forest animals that were viral reservoirs -- that could unleash⁶ microbes never before seen in humans and therefore unusually lethal⁷. They were warning that, thanks to an increasingly global economy, the ease of international air travel, and the movement of refugees due to famines and wars, these killer⁸ pathogens could easily spread around the world. Sound familiar?

当时，莫尔斯和其他科学家正试着找出哪些条件会让从未出现在人类身上、因而异常致命的微生物传染给人类，例如：气候变迁、大规模都市化、人类和牧养动物或森林动物这些病毒宿主的亲近程度。他们警告称，由于经济日益全球化、国际航空旅行便利，以及饥荒和战争造成的难民流动，这些致命的病原体可能轻易传播到世界各地。是不是听起来很耳熟？

"The single biggest threat to man's continued dominance on the planet is the virus." I used that searing quote from Joshua Lederberg, a molecular⁹ biologist who won a Nobel Prize for his work on bacteria, in my book's introduction. Back then I thought Lederberg might have been a bit melodramatic. Now his quote strikes me as terrifyingly prescient.

“人类统治地球的最大单一威胁是病毒。”这句直指核心的话是分子生物学家乔舒亚·莱德伯格说的，为我在书中前言引用。他因对细菌的研究而获颁诺贝尔奖。他的话在我看来是可怕的未卜先知。

1 implicit   

a.暗示的，含蓄的，不明晰的，绝对的

参考例句：

• A soldier must give implicit obedience to his officers. 士兵必须绝对服从他的长官。
• Her silence gave implicit consent. 她的沉默表示默许。

2 rebuke   

v.指责，非难，斥责 [反]praise

参考例句：

• He had to put up with a smart rebuke from the teacher.他不得不忍受老师的严厉指责。
• Even one minute's lateness would earn a stern rebuke.哪怕迟到一分钟也将受到严厉的斥责。

3 futile   

adj.无效的，无用的，无希望的

参考例句：

• They were killed,to the last man,in a futile attack.因为进攻失败，他们全部被杀，无一幸免。
• Their efforts to revive him were futile.他们对他抢救无效。

4 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

5 proximity   

n.接近，邻近

参考例句：

• Marriages in proximity of blood are forbidden by the law.法律规定禁止近亲结婚。
• Their house is in close proximity to ours.他们的房子很接近我们的。

6 unleash   

vt.发泄，发出；解带子放开

参考例句：

• They hope to create allies to unleash against diseases,pests,and invasive species.他们希望创造出一些新群体来对付疾病、害虫和一些有侵害性的物种。
• Changing water levels now at times unleash a miasma of disease from exposed sewage.如今，大坝不时地改变水位，从暴露的污水释放出了疾病瘴气。

7 lethal   

adj.致死的；毁灭性的

参考例句：

• A hammer can be a lethal weapon.铁锤可以是致命的武器。
• She took a lethal amount of poison and died.她服了致命剂量的毒药死了。

8 killer   

n.杀人者，杀人犯，杀手，屠杀者

参考例句：

• Heart attacks have become Britain's No.1 killer disease.心脏病已成为英国的头号致命疾病。
• The bulk of the evidence points to him as her killer.大量证据证明是他杀死她的。

9 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。