【英语语言学习】为什么有的人会超重

KELLY MCEVERS, HOST:

Many young scientists are having a difficult time getting their careers going, and the reason is often funding - a lack of it. The National Institutes of Health agrees this is a problem, so it established the New Innovator¹ Award. It gives exceptional young scientists a boost. This year's recipients² were announced today, and as part of his series Joe's Big Idea, NPR's Joe Palca introduces us to one of the winners.

JOE PALCA, BYLINE³: Monica Dus says the way she got into science is fairly typical, but in some ways it's a bit different.

MONICA DUS: I was one of those kids that loved bugs⁴. And I would just go around with my grandpa, and he would catch bugs for me because I'm a little squeamish. And then I just put them in, like, little jars and plastic bags.

And then once I got my microscope, I would take off their legs. But I also really loved Barbies and dolls, and so I would do the same. I would take off the Barbie hair and look on the microscope at that.

PALCA: Monica Dus grew up in Italy and moved to the United States for college and grad school. She was initially⁵ interested in fruit fly genetics, but one day there was an incident with her two Bichon Frise dogs. It seems Cupcake and Sprinkles got into a large bag of dog treats, something Dus noticed immediately when she got home.

DUS: And I couldn't believe that these two tiny, 15-pounds animal had huge bellies⁷ for three days and that they couldn't stop themself from eating.

PALCA: So she turned her research to using fruit flies to help understand what controls eating. Recently I visited her lab at the University of Michigan. The first thing she did was introduce me to her lab members.

ANOMID VASIDI: My name is Anomid Vasidi.

OLGA GRUSHKO: I'm Olga Grushko (ph).

JENNA CLEM: I'm Jenna Clem.

CALEB VOGT: I'm Caleb Vogt.

CHRISTINA MAY: I'm Christina May.

PALCA: The lab reflects Dus's commitments to helping⁸ foreign students and women get a start in research. Dus focusing on how the brain controls what we eat. She's using a variety of scientific disciplines to do that. For example, in one lab, Christina May is working with Dus to study individual cells in a fruit fly's brain.

MAY: I stimulated⁹ my fly mouth with sugar, and I recorded from this part of the brain.

PALCA: Across the hall, Jenna Clem takes a very different approach. She's working with Dus to study the genes¹⁰ in the brain that control eating.

CLEM: This is an incredibly complex system, and there is no one factor in other words.

PALCA: So it's not going to have a simply genetic⁶ explanation.

CLEM: Right. That's correct. That's correct.

PALCA: The lab has a working hypothesis. Dus believes a diet high in sugar actually changes the brain, so it no longer does a good job of knowing how many calories its owner is taking in. She thinks that might help explain why some people become obese¹¹.

DUS: Perhaps it has nothing to do with will and a lot of do with biochemistry.

PALCA: Just like scientists in the last century showed there was a link between smoking and lung cancer, Dus thinks she can find a link between an early exposure to a diet high in sugar and obesity¹².

DUS: So that we can stop talking about really shaming people about the willpower and focusing on the biochemistry and the public health.

PALCA: If she can do that, she says...

DUS: I will be a very happy person (laughter).

PALCA: She now has five years of funding from the National Institutes of Health to try. Joe Palca, NPR News.

1 innovator   

n.改革者；创新者

参考例句：

• The young technical innovator didn't lose heart though the new system was not yet brought into a workable condition. 尽管这种新方法尚未达到切实可行的状况，这位青年技术革新者也没有泄气。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Caesar planned vast projects and emerged as a great innovator. 恺撒制定了庞大的革新计划。 来自英汉非文学 - 文明史

2 recipients   

adj.接受的；受领的；容纳的；愿意接受的n.收件人；接受者；受领者；接受器

参考例句：

• The recipients of the prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者的姓名登在报上。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The recipients of prizes had their names printed in the paper. 获奖者名单登在报上。 来自《现代英汉综合大词典》

3 byline   

n.署名；v.署名

参考例句：

• His byline was absent as well.他的署名也不见了。
• We wish to thank the author of this article which carries no byline.我们要感谢这篇文章的那位没有署名的作者。

4 bugs   

adj.疯狂的，发疯的n.窃听器( bug的名词复数 )；病菌；虫子；[计算机]（制作软件程序所产生的意料不到的）错误

参考例句：

• All programs have bugs and need endless refinement. 所有的程序都有漏洞，都需要不断改进。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• The sacks of rice were swarming with bugs. 一袋袋的米里长满了虫子。 来自《简明英汉词典》

5 initially   

adv.最初，开始

参考例句：

• The ban was initially opposed by the US.这一禁令首先遭到美国的反对。
• Feathers initially developed from insect scales.羽毛最初由昆虫的翅瓣演化而来。

6 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。

7 bellies   

n.肚子( belly的名词复数 )；腹部；（物体的）圆形或凸起部份；腹部…形的

参考例句：

• They crawled along on their bellies. 他们匍匐前进。
• starving children with huge distended bellies 鼓着浮肿肚子的挨饿儿童

8 helping   

n.食物的一份&adj.帮助人的，辅助的

参考例句：

• The poor children regularly pony up for a second helping of my hamburger. 那些可怜的孩子们总是要求我把我的汉堡包再给他们一份。
• By doing this, they may at times be helping to restore competition. 这样一来, 他在某些时候,有助于竞争的加强。

9 stimulated   

a.刺激的

参考例句：

• The exhibition has stimulated interest in her work. 展览增进了人们对她作品的兴趣。
• The award has stimulated her into working still harder. 奖金促使她更加努力地工作。

10 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

11 obese   

adj.过度肥胖的，肥大的

参考例句：

• The old man is really obese,it can't be healthy.那位老人确实过于肥胖了，不能算是健康。
• Being obese and lazy is dangerous to health.又胖又懒危害健康。

12 obesity   

n.肥胖，肥大

参考例句：

• One effect of overeating may be obesity.吃得过多能导致肥胖。
• Sugar and fat can more easily lead to obesity than some other foods.糖和脂肪比其他食物更容易导致肥胖。