精美英文欣赏:盐与新陈代谢

Salt and Metabolism¹

Just how salt became so crucial to our metabolism is a mystery; one appealing theory traces our dependence² on it to the chemist ry of the late Cambrian seas. It was there, a half billion years ago, that tiny metazoan organisms first evolved systems for sequestering³ and circulating fluids.

The water of the early oceans might thus have become the chemical prototype for the fluids of all animal life - the medium in which cellular⁴ operations could continue no matter how the external environment changed. This speculation⁵ is based on the fact that, even today, the blood serums⁶ of radically⁷ divergent species are remarkably⁸ similar. Lizards⁹, platypuses¹⁰, sheep, and humans could hardly be more different in anatomy¹¹ or eating habits, yet the salt content in the fluid surrounding their blood cells is virtually identical. As early marine¹² specics made their way to fresh water and eventually to dry land, sodium¹³ remained a key ingredient of their interior,if not their exterior¹⁴, milieu¹⁵. The most successful mammalian species would have been those that developed efficient hormonal¹⁶ systems for maintaining the needed sodium concentrations.The human body,for example, uses the hormones¹⁷ renin, angiotensin, and aldosterone to retain or release tissue fluids and blood plasma¹⁸.The result,under favorable conditions, is a dynamic equilibrium¹⁹ in which neither fluid volume nor sodium concentration fluctuates too dramatically. But if the body is deprived of salt, the effects soon become dangerous, despite compensatory mechanisms²⁰.

盐与新陈代谢

盐为何成为人类新陈代谢的关键是一个谜；一个富有吸引力的理论认为我们对盐的依赖可从寒武纪海洋的化学变化中得到线索。 五亿年前，就是在那里，微小的后生动物首先进化成与外隔绝的循环液体系统。 因此，早期海洋里的水可能是所有动物体内液体的化学原型--一个无论外界环境如何改变，其细胞活动仍将继续的环境。 这个设想是建立这一事实基础上： 即使是在今天，物种迥异的众多动物血清非常相似。 蜥蜴、鸭嘴兽、绵羊和人类，在解剖学和饮食习惯上完全不同，但细胞周围的液体中的盐含量却基本上是相等的。在海洋生物向淡水区域并最终向陆地移动的过程中，盐始终是它们生存环境--如果不是外部环境，其码也是内部环境中的关键成份。 最高级的哺乳类动物为保持所需的盐浓度而进化出了高效的内分泌系统。例如，人体为了保留或释放组织液体和血浆而使用高血压蛋白原酶、血管紧张素、醛固酮等激素。 这样在有利的环境下，液体与其中盐浓度之间形成的动态平衡，两者均不致出现大起大落。 但如果身体里丧失了的盐分，尽管有各种的补偿机制，后果将马上极其危险。

1 metabolism   

n.新陈代谢

参考例句：

• After years of dieting,Carol's metabolism was completely out of whack.经过数年的节食，卡罗尔的新陈代谢完全紊乱了。
• All living matter undergoes a process of metabolism.生物都有新陈代谢。

2 dependence   

n.依靠，依赖；信任，信赖；隶属

参考例句：

• Doctors keep trying to break her dependence of the drug.医生们尽力使她戒除毒瘾。
• He was freed from financial dependence on his parents.他在经济上摆脱了对父母的依赖。

3 sequestering   

v.使隔绝，使隔离( sequester的现在分词 )；扣押

参考例句：

• Once installed the wood at further reducing carbon through the sequestering process. 本木料一旦植入，将通过一系列物理化学过程进一步有效降低碳量。 来自互联网
• Sequestration and dispersion force of different kinds of sequestering a-gent are tested. 本文分别测定了几种不同类型络合剂的络合能力和分散能力。 来自互联网

4 cellular   

adj.移动的；细胞的，由细胞组成的

参考例句：

• She has a cellular telephone in her car.她的汽车里有一部无线通讯电话机。
• Many people use cellular materials as sensitive elements in hygrometers.很多人用蜂窝状的材料作为测量温度的传感元件。

5 speculation   

n.思索，沉思；猜测；投机

参考例句：

• Her mind is occupied with speculation.她的头脑忙于思考。
• There is widespread speculation that he is going to resign.人们普遍推测他要辞职。

6 serums   

n.（动物体内的）浆液( serum的名词复数 )；血清；（一剂）免疫血清

参考例句：

• To observe the trends of plague FI antibody serums of Microtus fuscus. 观察青海田鼠血清中鼠疫FI抗体动态。 来自互联网
• The contents of T_3,T_4 and cAMP in serums were increased by 16.01%(P<0.05),17.06%(P<0.05) and 19.88%(P<0.05) respectively. 三碘甲腺原氨酸、甲状腺素和环腺苷酸含量，分别比对照组增加了16.01%(P<0.05)、17.06%(P<0.05)和19.88%(P<0.05)。 来自互联网

7 radically   

ad.根本地，本质地

参考例句：

• I think we may have to rethink our policies fairly radically. 我认为我们可能要对我们的政策进行根本的反思。
• The health service must be radically reformed. 公共医疗卫生服务必须进行彻底改革。

8 remarkably   

ad.不同寻常地，相当地

参考例句：

• I thought she was remarkably restrained in the circumstances. 我认为她在那种情况下非常克制。
• He made a remarkably swift recovery. 他康复得相当快。

9 lizards   

n.蜥蜴( lizard的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Nothing lives in Pompeii except crickets and beetles and lizards. 在庞培城里除了蟋蟀、甲壳虫和蜥蜴外，没有别的生物。 来自辞典例句
• Can lizards reproduce their tails? 蜥蜴的尾巴断了以后能再生吗？ 来自辞典例句

10 platypuses   

n.鸭嘴兽( platypus的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• Like humans, platypuses carry an X and a Y chromosome. 鸭嘴兽跟人类一样，也有X和Y染色体。 来自互联网

11 anatomy   

n.解剖学，解剖；功能，结构，组织

参考例句：

• He found out a great deal about the anatomy of animals.在动物解剖学方面，他有过许多发现。
• The hurricane's anatomy was powerful and complex.对飓风的剖析是一项庞大而复杂的工作。

12 marine   

adj.海的；海生的；航海的；海事的；n.水兵

参考例句：

• Marine creatures are those which live in the sea. 海洋生物是生存在海里的生物。
• When the war broke out,he volunteered for the Marine Corps.战争爆发时，他自愿参加了海军陆战队。

13 sodium   

n.（化）钠

参考例句：

• Out over the town the sodium lights were lit.在外面，全城的钠光灯都亮了。
• Common salt is a compound of sodium and chlorine.食盐是钠和氯的复合物。

14 exterior   

adj.外部的，外在的；表面的

参考例句：

• The seed has a hard exterior covering.这种子外壳很硬。
• We are painting the exterior wall of the house.我们正在给房子的外墙涂漆。

15 milieu   

n.环境；出身背景；(个人所处的)社会环境

参考例句：

• Foods usually provide a good milieu for the persistence of viruses.食品通常为病毒存续提供了一个良好的栖身所。
• He was born in a social milieu where further education was a luxury.他生在一个受较高教育就被认为是奢侈的社会环境里。

16 hormonal   

adj.激素的

参考例句：

• Some viral diseases are more severe during pregnancy, probably tecause of hormonal changes. 有些病毒病在妊娠期间比较严重，可能是由于激素变化引起的。
• She underwent surgical intervention and a subsequent short period of hormonal therapy. 他接受外科手术及随后短暂荷尔蒙治疗。

17 hormones   

n. 荷尔蒙，激素 名词hormone的复数形式

参考例句：

• This hormone interacts closely with other hormones in the body. 这种荷尔蒙与体內其他荷尔蒙紧密地相互作用。
• The adrenals produce a large per cent of a man's sex hormones. 肾上腺分泌人体的大部分性激素。

18 plasma   

n.血浆，细胞质，乳清

参考例句：

• Keep some blood plasma back for the serious cases.留一些血浆给重病号。
• The plasma is the liquid portion of blood that is free of cells .血浆是血液的液体部分，不包含各种细胞。

19 equilibrium   

n.平衡，均衡，相称，均势，平静

参考例句：

• Change in the world around us disturbs our inner equilibrium.我们周围世界的变化扰乱了我们内心的平静。
• This is best expressed in the form of an equilibrium constant.这最好用平衡常数的形式来表示。

20 mechanisms   

n.机械( mechanism的名词复数 )；机械装置；[生物学] 机制；机械作用

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。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• He explained how the two mechanisms worked. 他解释这两台机械装置是如何工作的。 来自《简明英汉词典》