新奇事件簿 污垢对婴儿有益

It seems like common sense to most parents to make sure their baby is always in a clean place. Most parents do their best to keep dirt and bacteria away from their little ones. However, a scientist says dirt is an important part of making babies stronger. Dr Jack¹ Gilbert from the University of Chicago studies the ecosystems² of bacteria. He did research into how dirt and bacteria affect children. He published his research in a book called 'Dirt is Good: The Advantage of Germs for Your Child’s Developing Immune System'. He told America's NPR news station that: "It's fine to wash their hands if there's a…flu virus going around, but if they're interacting with a dog and the dog licks their face, that's not a bad thing."

大部分父母都确保婴儿待在整洁干净的环境里，这似乎应该是常识。大部分父母尽最大努力让小家伙远离污垢和细菌。然而，一名科学家表示，污垢是让婴儿更加强壮的重要组成部分。来自芝加哥大学的Jack Gilbert研究了细菌的生态系统。他研究了污垢和细菌对儿童的影响。他的研究发表在一本书上，书名叫“污垢是有益的：细菌对儿童增强免疫系统的好处”。他告诉美国NPR新闻电视台：“如果流感盛行，勤洗手是好的，但是如果与狗狗接触，或者狗狗舔了孩子的脸，这并不是坏事。”

Dr Gilbert wrote that letting children get dirty was largely beneficial. Exposing small kids to dirt helps them to build their immune system. Dr Gilbert even argues that children often get allergies³ because parents try to protect their kids too much and try too hard to clean everything that children use. He said parents now over-sterilize everything in the home. This causes children's immune systems to too sensitive, which can lead to things like asthma⁴, eczema, and food allergies. Gilbert even defended the "five-second rule". Many people think it is OK to eat something that fell on the floor for fewer than five seconds. Gilbert says it is OK to eat something that fell on the floor as long as the floor isn't really dirty.

Gilbert写道，让儿童变脏很大程度上是有益的。小孩子暴露在污垢中可以帮助他们增强免疫系统。Gilbert甚至辩称，由于父母过分保护孩子，努力让孩子的一切物品保持干净，孩子经常过敏。他说，父母过分给家里的一切物品消毒。这导致儿童的免疫系统过分敏感，导致哮喘，湿疹和食物过敏。Gilbert甚至支持“五秒钟”规则。许多人认为，如果食物掉在地上不到五秒钟，捡起来吃没有影响。Gilbert说，只要地板不是真的很脏，东西掉在地上再捡起来吃也没什么。

1 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。

2 ecosystems   

n.生态系统( ecosystem的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• There are highly sensitive and delicately balanced ecosystems in the forest. 森林里有高度敏感、灵敏平衡的各种生态系统。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Madagascar's ecosystems range from rainforest to semi-desert. 马达加斯加生态系统类型多样，从雨林到半荒漠等不一而足。 来自辞典例句

3 allergies   

n.[医]过敏症；[口]厌恶，反感；（对食物、花粉、虫咬等的）过敏症( allergy的名词复数 )；变态反应，变应性

参考例句：

• Food allergies can result in an enormous variety of different symptoms. 食物过敏会引发很多不同的症状。 来自辞典例句
• Let us, however, examine one of the most common allergies; hayfever. 现在让我们来看看最常见的变态反应的一种--枯草热。 来自辞典例句

4 asthma   

n.气喘病，哮喘病

参考例句：

• I think he's having an asthma attack.我想他现在是哮喘病发作了。
• Its presence in allergic asthma is well known.它在过敏性气喘中的存在是大家很熟悉的。