经济学人双语精读TE-2023-06-02期考研英语|噬菌体：有时它对你有益（PDF版+Word版+音频）
6.01每日一篇 | 英语外刊社
Bacteriophages：When viruses are good for you
Bacteria-killing viruses could help avert an antibiotics crisis
【1】antibiotics are vital to modern medicine. Their ability to kill bacteria without harming the patient has saved billions of lives directly and made everything from caesarean sections to chemotherapy much safer. Life expectancy would drop by a third if they did not exist. But after decades of overuse their powers are fading. Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of “superbugs” against which there is no effective treatment. Antimicrobial resistance is expected to kill 10m people a year by 2050, up from around 1m in 2019.
【2】It would be unwise to rely on new antibiotics to solve the problem. The rate at which resistance emerges is accelerating. Some new drugs last only two years before bacteria devise counter-measures. When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often hoard them, prescribing them only grudgingly and for short periods when faced with the most intransigent infections. That helps limit the spread of resistance to new drugs. But it also limits sales, making new antibiotics an unattractive proposition for most pharmaceutical firms.
【3】Governments have been trying to fix the problem by funnelling cash into research and taking stakes in drug firms. That has produced only limitedimprovements. But there is a promising, if obscure, alternative that is also worth a look. Microbiologists have known for decades that disease -causing bacteria can suffer from illnesses of their own. They are susceptible to attack by bacteriophages (“phages” for short): specialised viruses that infectbacteria, and often kill them.
【4】Using one disease -causing organism to fight another has several advantages. Like antibiotics, phages are picky in their choice of target, leaving human cells alone even as they infect and destroy bacterial ones. Unlike antibiotics, phages can evolve just as readily as bacteria can, meaning that even if bacteria do develop resistance, the phages may be able to evolve around it in turn.
【5】That, at least, is the theory. The trouble with phages is that comparatively little is known about them. After the discovery of penicillin, the first antibiotic, in 1928, they were largely ignored in the West. Only the Soviet Union, powered by research and production facilities in Georgia, continued to use them. Given the gravity of the antibiotic- resistance problem, it would be a good idea to find out more.
【6】The first step is to run more clinical trials. Interest from Western firms is growing. But it is being held back by the fact that phages are an even less appealing investment than antibiotics. Since they are natural organisms there may be trouble patenting them, making it hard to recoup any investment.
【7】Governments can help. They could fund basic research into phage therapy, and clarify the law around exactly what is and is not patentable. In time they could set up phage banks and manufacturing processes, so as to make production cheaper. And they could spread awareness of the risks of overusing antibiotics, and the potential benefits of phages. If you are put off by the thought of ingesting a virus, consider that penicillin was a mould.
【8】Going viral
The history of antibiotics themselves shows that governments can help nudge the private sector into action. penicillin was largely ignored at first by doctors, who regarded it as too difficult to produce. It took the tragedy of the second world war, and the intervention of the American and British governments, to kick-start the modern antibiotics industry. Compared with a war, antibiotic resistance is a slow- burning problem. Nonetheless, the time to act is now.
1短语：
1.原文：Their ability to kill bacteria without harming the patient has saved billions of lives directly and made everything from caesarean sections to chemotherapy much safer.
词典：caesarean section剖腹产、剖腹产手术
例句：The baby was delivered by caesarean section.
这个婴儿是剖腹产下的。
2.原文：Life expectancy would drop by a third if they did not exist. But after decades of overuse their powers are fading.
词典：life expectancy预期寿命、期望寿命
例句：The average life expectancy was 40.
平均期望寿命曾是40岁。
3.原文：Antimicrobial resistance is expected to kill 10m people a year by 2050, up from around 1m in 2019.
词典：antimicrobial resistance耐药性、抗菌素耐药性、细菌耐药性
例句：Antimicrobial resistance is a global problem that affects all countries.
抗菌素耐药性是影响所有国家的一个全球性问题。
4.原文：But there is a promising, if obscure, alternative that is also worth a look.
词典：worth a look值得一看
例句：Much of the castle is gutted but well worth a look.
尽管城堡的大部分已经损坏，可是仍旧值得一看。
5.原文：They are susceptible to attack by bacteriophages (“phages” for short): specialised viruses that infect bacteria, and often kill them.
词典：susceptible to 易受...影响的；对……敏感的
例句：Walking with weights makes the shoulders very susceptible to injury.
负重行走使肩膀很容易受伤。
6.原文：The first step is to run more clinical trials.
词典：clinical trial临床试验；诊治试验
例句：Two rival laser surgery systems are undergoing clinical trials in the U.S.
两个竞争的激光手术系统正在美国进行临床试验。
②长难句
1.原文：Some bacteria have evolved resistance, creating a growing army of “superbugs” against which there is no effective treatment.
分析：本句含限定性定语从句。 “bacteria”是主语，“have evolved”是“have+动词过去分词”现在完成时结构，“creating”为动词现在分词做伴随状语；“a growing army of “superbugs””是先行词，“against which”是“介词+关系词”的定语从句结构，从句内容对先行词进行解释说明。
译文：一些细菌已经进化出耐药性，形成了一支不断壮大的“超级细菌”大军，目前还没有应对该“超级细菌”的有效治疗方法。
2.原文：When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often hoard them, prescribing them only grudgingly and for short periods when faced with the most intransigent infections.
分析：本句较长，包含两个when引导的时间状语从句。开头“When”引导时间状语从句，这里指动作发生的时间点，“doctors”是主语；“hoard”是谓语动词；“them”是宾语；“prescribing”是动词现在分词，表示伴随状态；第二个“when”同样引导时间状语从句，表示“在……时”。
译文：当新的抗生素确实出现时，医生往往会把它们贮藏起来，只会在面对最顽固的感染时，勉强地开短期内处方。
3写作技巧：
1. When new antibiotics do arrive, doctors often hoard them, prescribing them only grudgingly and for short periods when faced with the most intransigent infections.
当新的抗生素确实出现时，医生往往会把它们贮藏起来，只会在面对最顽固的感染时，勉强地开短期内处方。
生词：
hoard n.贮存，囤积，秘藏；（窖藏硬币或贵重器物的）古代宝窟；情报（库）
grudgingly adv.勉强地；不情愿地
intransigent adj.不妥协的；不让步的；n.不妥协的人
本句中出现了三个新词，前面已经为大家挑出来，给出了意思，这几个词一般在阅读中不是很常见，但它们的意思表示在生活中经常用到，希望大家能记下来，扩充一下词汇量，将来一定会对写作、翻译有所帮助，下面为大家找了些例句，希望同学们默默读几遍，加深印象。
例句：
They've begun to hoard food and petrol and save their money.
他们已开始贮藏食物和汽油并攒钱。
The case involves a hoard of silver and jewels valued at up to £40m.
此案涉及价值高达4000万美元的白银和珠宝的收藏品。
She grudgingly admitted that I was right.
她勉强承认我是对的。
The film studio grudgingly agreed to allow him to continue working.
电影厂勉强同意让他继续工作。
Their parents grudgingly [unwillingly] consented to the marriage.
他们的父母无可奈何地应允了这门亲事。
...Sami's opinionated and intransigent father.
…萨米那武断而固执的父亲。
Owing to their intransigent attitude we were unable to reach an agreement.
由于他们强硬的态度，我们未能达成协议。
2. Governments have been trying to fix the problem by funnelling cash into research and taking stakes in drug firms.
各国政府一直试图通过向研究投入资金、入股制药公司来解决这个问题。
生词：
funnel n.漏斗；漏斗状物；（船、蒸汽机车上的）烟囱
v.通过漏斗，穿过狭窄通道；输送，传送（金钱、货物或信息）；（一端逐渐扩大或收缩）形成漏斗状
“funnel”这个词，大家或许见过它的名词用法“漏斗”，但它还有动词用法，有“通过漏斗，穿过狭窄通道；输送，传送（金钱、货物或信息）”等意思，本文作者就是将它用作动词，英语中一个词有多种词性很常见，它可以满足我们不同情境下的写作需求，平时一定多注意积累。下面为大家找了些例句，大家多读几遍，好好体会一下这个词的用法：
例句：
Rain falls through the funnel into the jar below.
雨水通过漏斗落进下面的罐子里。
...a ship with three masts and two funnels.
…一艘有3根桅杆和2个烟囱的轮船。
Along the road, funnels of dark grey smoke rose from bombed villages.
沿那条公路，暗灰色烟成漏斗状从遭到轰炸的村庄里升起。
The winds came from the north, across the plains, funnelling down the valley.
风从北方吹来，刮过平原，穿过山谷。
He secretly funnelled credit-card information to counterfeiters.
他秘密地将信用卡信息传送给了伪造者们。
Huge pipes funnel the water down the mountainside.
巨大的管道把水沿山坡输送下山。
4背景知识：
噬菌体是一种侵袭细菌的病毒，它们在宿主菌体内繁殖，并利用宿主菌体的代谢系统和营养物质来生存和繁殖。噬菌体不具备固定的细胞形态，而是由蛋白质和DNA组成的核心，外面包裹着一层质粒，再外面是蛋白质壳层。噬菌体的遗传物质可以是DNA或RNA，但是多数噬菌体的遗传物质是DNA。噬菌体可以感染大多数细菌，但是它们对某些特定的细菌有很强的攻击性，例如肺炎球菌和嗜热链球菌。噬菌体通过吸附在细菌表面并注入DNA来进入细菌。在进入细菌后，噬菌体的DNA解码并复制自己的遗传物质，然后通过吸附在细菌表面并释放出蛋白质来感染细菌。噬菌体可以帮助人类消灭一些对人类有害的细菌，这对于人类的健康是有益的。例如，噬菌体可以帮助人类预防食物中毒和其他食源性疾病，因为一些细菌会引起这些疾病。此外，噬菌体还可以用于生物医学研究，例如对药物和疫苗的研究。然而，噬菌体也可能对人类产生危害。某些噬菌体可以导致人类的感染和疾病，例如嗜热链球菌噬菌体可以导致肺炎和脑膜炎等疾病。此外，噬菌体还可能对人类的环境产生负面影响，例如在水中和土壤中传播并对生态系统产生负面影响。
段落大意：
【1】抗生素对于现代医学至关重要，但效力正在减弱，一些细菌已经进化出耐药性，目前还没有应对的有效治疗方法。
【2】限制使用新抗生素有助于限制对新药的耐药性传播，但也限制了销售，对大多数制药公司来说，新抗生素是个没有吸引力的提议。
【3】各国政府的努力只带来了有限的改善，但将噬菌体作为替代方案也值得一看。
【4】用一种致病生物来对抗另一种致病生物有几个好处。
【5】噬菌体的问题在于，相对而言，人们对其知之甚少。考虑到抗生素耐药性问题的严重性，找到更多的噬菌体是个好主意。
【6】噬菌体的发展阻碍。
【7】政府可以为噬菌体的发展应用提供帮助。
【8】抗生素本身的历史表明，政府可以帮助推动私营部门采取行动。
PS:各位研友下载请文末点击阅读原文.
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