国家地理 为什么病毒让我们措手不及(3)

The late Edwin Kilbourne might have had something to say about that. A leading influenza¹ vaccine² researcher, Kilbourne was gaunt and goateed; in my book I described him as a cross between Pete Seeger and Jonas Salk. At a conference in the mid-1980s, Kilbourne invented a scenario³ about a fictitious⁴ nightmare virus with qualities that would make it the most contagious⁵, most lethal⁶, and most difficult to control. He called it "maximally malignant⁷ (monster) virus," or MMMV. As Kilbourne described it, among MMMV's other nefarious⁸ attributes, it would be transmitted through the air like influenza, would be environmentally stable like polio, and would insert its own genes⁹ directly into the host's nucleus¹⁰ like HIV.

对此，埃德温·基尔波恩如果还在世，可能会有话要说。他是首屈一指的流感疫苗研究者，瘦骨嶙峋、蓄着山羊胡；在20世纪80年代中期的一次研讨会上，基尔波恩在他假想的情况中虚构出了一种恶梦般的病毒，这种病毒的特性让它具有最强传染力、最致命、也最难以控制。他称之为最大恶性（怪物）病毒（MMMV）。基尔波恩描述，MMMV其他的邪恶特质还包括它会像流感一样藉由空气传播，还会像HIV病毒那样把本身的基因直接嵌入宿主细胞核里。

The novel coronavirus isn't Kilbourne's ghoulish MMMV, but it does have a lot of its scariest properties. It's transmitted through the air, replicates¹¹ in the lower respiratory tract¹², and is thought to last for days on countertops. In addition, people can have mild or asymptomatic cases, meaning that even though they are infectious, they often feel healthy enough to walk around, go to work, and cough on us. In that way it's even worse than influenza and even harder to contain.

COVID-19并不是基尔波恩所描述的恐怖MMMV，但确实拥有它最可怕的许多特性。它能透过空气传播，在下呼吸道中自我复制，并被认为可以在一般桌面上存活数日。除此之外，感染者可能症状轻微或无症状，这表示即使他们具有传染力，也往往会觉得自己相当健康、可以四处走动、去上班，还会朝着其他人咳嗽。如此一来，它甚至比流感还可怕，并且更难防堵。

But just as Morse said he's never liked "Most Likely to Endanger Us" lists, Kilbourne told me 30 years ago that he'd conjured¹³ MMMV for illustrative rather than predictive purposes. "With viruses, in which only a few changes can make a huge difference in the way the microbes behave, trying to predict the paths of evolution and emergence¹⁴ can be a treacherous¹⁵ affair," he warned.

但正如莫尔斯说他从来不喜欢列“最有可能危害我们的病毒”这类列表一样，基尔波恩也曾在30年前告诉我，他想象出MMMV为的是用于说明可能的危险，而不是预测。他警告称：“病毒的情况是这样的，少数变异就能对微生物的行为产生巨大影响，因此试图预测演化和出现途径可能是件充满陷阱的事。”

1 influenza   

n.流行性感冒，流感

参考例句：

• They took steps to prevent the spread of influenza.他们采取措施
• Influenza is an infectious disease.流感是一种传染病。

2 vaccine   

n.牛痘苗，疫苗；adj.牛痘的，疫苗的

参考例句：

• The polio vaccine has saved millions of lives.脊髓灰质炎疫苗挽救了数以百万计的生命。
• She takes a vaccine against influenza every fall.她每年秋季接种流感疫苗。

3 scenario   

n.剧本，脚本；概要

参考例句：

• But the birth scenario is not completely accurate.然而分娩脚本并非完全准确的。
• This is a totally different scenario.这是完全不同的剧本。

4 fictitious   

adj.虚构的，假设的；空头的

参考例句：

• She invented a fictitious boyfriend to put him off.她虚构出一个男朋友来拒绝他。
• The story my mother told me when I was young is fictitious.小时候妈妈对我讲的那个故事是虚构的。

5 contagious   

adj.传染性的，有感染力的

参考例句：

• It's a highly contagious infection.这种病极易传染。
• He's got a contagious laugh.他的笑富有感染力。

6 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。

7 malignant   

adj.恶性的，致命的；恶意的，恶毒的

参考例句：

• Alexander got a malignant slander.亚历山大受到恶意的诽谤。
• He started to his feet with a malignant glance at Winston.他爬了起来，不高兴地看了温斯顿一眼。

8 nefarious   

adj.恶毒的，极坏的

参考例句：

• My father believes you all have a nefarious purpose here.我父亲认为你们都有邪恶的目的。
• He was universally feared because of his many nefarious deeds.因为他干了许多罪恶的勾当，所以人人都惧怕他。

9 genes   

n.基因( gene的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• You have good genes from your parents, so you should live a long time. 你从父母那儿获得优良的基因，所以能够活得很长。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Differences will help to reveal the functions of the genes. 它们间的差异将会帮助我们揭开基因多种功能。 来自英汉非文学 - 生命科学 - 生物技术的世纪

10 nucleus   

n.核，核心，原子核

参考例句：

• These young people formed the nucleus of the club.这些年轻人成了俱乐部的核心。
• These councils would form the nucleus of a future regime.这些委员会将成为一个未来政权的核心。

11 replicates   

复制( replicate的第三人称单数 )； 重复； 再造； 再生

参考例句：

• The bluetongue virus replicates in the insect. 蓝舌病病毒在这种昆虫体内繁殖。
• The chameleon's skin replicates the pattern of its surroundings. 变色龙的皮肤可随环境的模式而改变颜色。

12 tract   

n.传单，小册子，大片(土地或森林)

参考例句：

• He owns a large tract of forest.他拥有一大片森林。
• He wrote a tract on this subject.他曾对此写了一篇短文。

13 conjured   

用魔术变出( conjure的过去式和过去分词 )； 祈求，恳求； 变戏法； （变魔术般地） 使…出现

参考例句：

• He conjured them with his dying breath to look after his children. 他临终时恳求他们照顾他的孩子。
• His very funny joke soon conjured my anger away. 他讲了个十分有趣的笑话，使得我的怒气顿消。

14 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

15 treacherous   

adj.不可靠的，有暗藏的危险的；adj.背叛的，背信弃义的

参考例句：

• The surface water made the road treacherous for drivers.路面的积水对驾车者构成危险。
• The frozen snow was treacherous to walk on.在冻雪上行走有潜在危险。