VOA慢速英语 2007 1030b

VOICE ONE:

This is SCIENCE IN THE NEWS in VOA Special English.  I'm Bob Doughty¹.

VOICE TWO:

 
Researchers at Ohio State University studied exercise-induced asthma² among top athletes at the school. Ohio State football players practice earlier this year.
And I'm Faith Lapidus.  On our program this week, we will tell about the winners of the Nobel Prize in medicine.  We will tell about a health problem resulting from physical exercise.  We also report on depression in young people and genetic⁴ studies of an ancient animal. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

The two thousand seven Nobel Prize in medicine will go to three men who found a way to learn about the duties of individual genes⁵.  They discovered how to inactivate⁶, or knock out, single genes in laboratory animals.  The result is known as "knockout mice." 

 
Mario Capecchi holds a laboratory mouse
The Karolinska Institute named the winners earlier this month.  They are Martin Evans of Britain and two Americans, Mario Capecchi and .  They will receive what is officially called the Nobel Prize in Physiology⁷ or Medicine at a ceremony in Sweden on December tenth.  They also will share about one million five hundred thousand dollars in prize money. 

VOICE TWO:

In the nineteen eighties, Mario Capecchi and Oliver Smithies both studied cells in mice.  They wanted to find how to cause changes in individual genes.  But the kinds of cells they independently studied could not be used to create gene³-targeted animals.

Martin Evans had the solution.  He worked with embryonic⁸ stem cells to produce mice that carried new genetic material.

 
Oliver Smithies
The research greatly expanded knowledge about embryonic development, aging and disease.  It also led to a new technology -- gene targeting.  This has already produced five hundred mouse models of human conditions.  Knockout mice are used for general research and for the development of new treatments. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

A new study shows the breathing disorder⁹ asthma is common among students who take part in college athletic¹⁰ programs.  Researchers studied American college athletes for signs of breathing problems.  Athletes need skill and strength to compete in a sport.  Yet test results suggested that more than one-third of those studied had a condition called exercise-induced asthma.  In other words, physical exercise caused their asthma.  This was true even among college athletes who had no history of the disorder. 

Exercise-induced asthma happens when exercise restricts the flow of air to the lungs.  The narrowing and closing of the airway¹¹ usually begins just after heavy exercise.  One sign of exercise-induced asthma is increased amounts of sticky fluid, or mucus, in the airway.  Other signs include difficulty breathing and tightness in the chest.  Two dangers of the condition are reduced athletic performance and serious breathing problems. 

VOICE TWO:

Researchers at Ohio State University Medical Center organized the study.  They examined one hundred seven student athletes at the university.  The athletes were from Ohio State’s top sports teams. 

Forty-two of those tested showed signs of exercise-induced asthma.  Thirty-six members of that group had no earlier history of the breathing disorder.  The researchers say the sex of the athlete and the breathing demands of the sport did not affect the rate of exercise-induced asthma.

Jonathan Parsons was the lead writer of the report.  He says college students were tested because many of the reported severe cases of asthma after exercise have involved athletes twenty years of age or younger. 

VOICE ONE:

Doctor Parsons says the findings suggest that many athletes do not know they have exercise-induced asthma.  He says many parents, trainers and even athletes accept signs of the disorder as normal effects of physical activity. 

Other athletes in the study showed signs of breathing problems after exercise.  But the researchers say they were not common cases of exercise-induced asthma. 

Doctor Parsons says the signs of exercise-induced asthma are not always clear.  He says linking the condition to all breathing problems tied to exercise will result in wrong findings.  This, he says, is why testing is so important.

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

You are listening to the VOA Special English program SCIENCE IN THE NEWS.  With Bob Doughty, I'm Faith Lapidus in Washington. 

(MUSIC)

Depression can cause long periods of sadness and hopelessness, feelings of low self-worth, even physical pain.  It is the leading cause of suicide.  The World Health Organization says more than one hundred twenty million people worldwide suffer from depression.  But many people may not know it can start at a young age. 

Recently, researchers in the United States reported on a study of more than three hundred young people.  All the patients were twelve to seventeen years of age.  They suffered from major depression disorder, the most common form of the disease.

The researchers divided them into three groups.  One group received the antidepressant drug Prozac.  Another received cognitive¹² behavioral therapy.  This kind of treatment teaches patients to recognize and deal with the thoughts that can result from depression.  The third group received both cognitive behavioral therapy and the antidepressant drug.

VOICE ONE:

The study found that the combination of treatments was most effective.  At twelve weeks, the researchers found reduced levels of depression in all three groups.  But they say the group receiving the combined treatments had the greatest reduction.  This continued through the end of the nine-month study.

The study did not include an untreated control group.  So there is no way to know for sure if it was the treatment that eased the depression.

The findings by Duke University researchers appear in the Archives of General Psychiatry¹³.  America's National Institute of Mental Health paid for the study. 

(MUSIC)

VOICE TWO:

An international team of scientists has recovered genetic information from hairs of ancient wooly¹⁴ mammoths.  The scientists say the genetic material will provide valuable information about an animal alive today -- the elephant.  They say it may also help in the study of mammoths and other ancient animals.   

Mammoths lived on Earth thirty thousand to sixty thousand years ago.  They are ancestors of modern African and Indian elephants. 

Most of the hairs in the study came from a frozen mammoth¹⁵.  Its remains¹⁶ were found in the Siberia area of Russia in seventeen ninety-nine.  For the past two centuries, the hair remains were stored at room temperature at the Zoological Museum in Saint Petersburg.

VOICE ONE:

Stephan Schuster was part of the team that made a genetic map from the mammoth hair remains.  He works at Pennsylvania State University in the United States. 

Professor Schuster says no team member thought it would be possible to get usable genetic material from the hair remains.  He says the scientists had thought that removing the hairs from a cold climate would have destroyed every gene.  Yet the scientists found genetic information in even the smallest piece of hair.

Professor Schuster notes that scientists are able to collect genes from the bones of dinosaurs¹⁸.  That is how they know about the age and development of the ancient creatures.  But he adds that genetic studies of dinosaur¹⁷ bones are costly¹⁹ and difficult.  The bones have very small holes.  It is difficult to separate the genes scientists want to study from bacteria, plant and other material. 

VOICE TWO:

Professor Schuster says genetic testing of hair is simple and does not cost much.  He says his team found the bacteria on the outer end of the hair remains.  The scientists were able to the outer end whiter while the other end remained undamaged.  After removing the bacteria, the scientists were able to observe very pure genetic material from the mammoth. 

Professor Schuster says this kind of test can be performed on something as small as a single hair.  And he says the scientists found usable genes along the complete hair, not just the hair root closest to the skin.

Professor Schuster says the genetic map will tell scientists a lot about the development of Indian and African elephants.  He says it may provide clues about how long it took before they separated and their last common ancestor.  A report describing the study was published in Science magazine.

(MUSIC)

VOICE ONE:

This SCIENCE IN THE NEWS was written by Lawan Davis, SooJee Han and Caty Weaver²⁰.  Brianna Blake was our producer.  I'm Bob Doughty.

VOICE TWO:

And I'm Faith Lapidus.

1 doughty   

adj.勇猛的，坚强的

参考例句：

• Most of successful men have the characteristics of contumacy and doughty.绝大多数成功人士都有共同的特质：脾气倔强，性格刚强。
• The doughty old man battled his illness with fierce determination.坚强的老人用巨大毅力与疾病作斗争。

2 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。

3 gene   

n.遗传因子，基因

参考例句：

• A single gene may have many effects.单一基因可能具有很多种效应。
• The targeting of gene therapy has been paid close attention.其中基因治疗的靶向性是值得密切关注的问题之一。

4 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。

5 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

6 inactivate   

v.使…不活跃

参考例句：

• We put bacteria in an environment at low temperature to inactivate them.我们将细菌置於低温的环境中使之失去活性。
• Food processing destroys some nutrients,but can also inactivate toxins and increase the availability of other nutrients.食物加工破坏一些营养物质，但也可以灭活毒素，并增加其他营养物质的可用性。

7 physiology   

n.生理学，生理机能

参考例句：

• He bought a book about physiology.他买了一本生理学方面的书。
• He was awarded the Nobel Prize for achievements in physiology.他因生理学方面的建树而被授予诺贝尔奖。

8 embryonic   

adj.胚胎的

参考例句：

• It is still in an embryonic stage.它还处于萌芽阶段。
• The plan,as yet,only exists in embryonic form.这个计划迄今为止还只是在酝酿之中。

9 disorder   

n.紊乱，混乱；骚动，骚乱；疾病，失调

参考例句：

• When returning back,he discovered the room to be in disorder.回家后，他发现屋子里乱七八糟。
• It contained a vast number of letters in great disorder.里面七零八落地装着许多信件。

10 athletic   

adj.擅长运动的，强健的；活跃的，体格健壮的

参考例句：

• This area has been marked off for athletic practice.这块地方被划出来供体育训练之用。
• He is an athletic star.他是一个运动明星。

11 airway   

n.空中航线，通风口

参考例句：

• Lay them on their side and ensure the airway is unobstructed.让他们侧躺着，并确保呼吸道畅通。
• There is a purple airway in London Airport.伦敦机场里有一条皇家专用飞机跑道。

12 cognitive   

adj.认知的，认识的，有感知的

参考例句：

• As children grow older,their cognitive processes become sharper.孩子们越长越大，他们的认知过程变得更为敏锐。
• The cognitive psychologist is like the tinker who wants to know how a clock works.认知心理学者倒很像一个需要通晓钟表如何运转的钟表修理匠。

13 psychiatry   

n.精神病学，精神病疗法

参考例句：

• The study appeared in the Amercian science Journal of Psychiatry.这个研究发表在美国精神病学的杂志上。
• A physician is someone who specializes in psychiatry.精神病专家是专门从事精神病治疗的人。

14 wooly   

adj.毛茸茸的；糊涂的

参考例句：

• I like the feel of this cloth and it has a warm wooly feel.我喜欢这块布的手感,它摸上去毛茸茸的很暖和。
• He wore a brown t-shirt with jeans and a pair of shoes,with a wooly hat covering his hair.小贝身穿一件棕色t恤，搭配牛仔裤和皮鞋，头戴一顶盖住头发的羊毛帽子。

15 mammoth   

n.长毛象；adj.长毛象似的，巨大的

参考例句：

• You can only undertake mammoth changes if the finances are there.资金到位的情况下方可进行重大变革。
• Building the new railroad will be a mammoth job.修建那条新铁路将是一项巨大工程。

16 remains   

n.剩余物，残留物；遗体，遗迹

参考例句：

• He ate the remains of food hungrily.他狼吞虎咽地吃剩余的食物。
• The remains of the meal were fed to the dog.残羹剩饭喂狗了。

17 dinosaur   

n.恐龙

参考例句：

• Are you trying to tell me that David was attacked by a dinosaur?你是想要告诉我大卫被一支恐龙所攻击？
• He stared at the faithful miniature of the dinosaur.他凝视著精确的恐龙缩小模型。

18 dinosaurs   

n.恐龙( dinosaur的名词复数 )；守旧落伍的人，过时落后的东西

参考例句：

• The brontosaurus was one of the largest of all dinosaurs. 雷龙是所有恐龙中最大的一种。 来自《简明英汉词典》
• Dinosaurs have been extinct for millions of years. 恐龙绝种已有几百万年了。 来自《简明英汉词典》

19 costly   

adj.昂贵的，价值高的，豪华的

参考例句：

• It must be very costly to keep up a house like this.维修这么一幢房子一定很昂贵。
• This dictionary is very useful,only it is a bit costly.这本词典很有用，左不过贵了些。

20 weaver   

n.织布工；编织者

参考例句：

• She was a fast weaver and the cloth was very good.她织布织得很快，而且布的质量很好。
• The eager weaver did not notice my confusion.热心的纺织工人没有注意到我的狼狈相。