古老的病毒 Ancient viruses

Hello and welcome to 6 minute English. I hope you’re ready for another five minutes and fifty-five seconds of wonderful English language conversation about an interesting topic from BBC News. I’m William Kremer.
大家好，欢迎来到六分钟英语。想必您已经做好了准备来收听这一期来自BBC有趣而精彩的英语对话节目了，本期时长为五分五十五秒。我是William Kremer。
Hello, I’m Helen Hu. Today we’re talking about genes...
大家好，我是Helen Hu，今天我们来谈谈genes(基因)。
Oh right! Is that why we’re both wearing jeans?
哦，对了！这就是今天我们都穿jeans（牛仔裤）的原因吗？
No, no, not that kind of jeans. Genes spelled G-E-N-E-S – these are the molecules in our body which hold genetic information. So genes tell our bodies how they should grow and develop.
不不不，不是那个jeans，是genes，拼写为G-E-N-E-S, 他们是我们身体中储藏遗传信息的分子。所以基因告诉我们的身体如何成长，如何运转。
Right, and genes are what parents hand down to their children. We carry genes from one generation to the next.
对，而且，基因是父母遗传给子女的。一代一代的传下去。
Now before we go any further, it’s time for our weekly quiz. Were you very good at science at school, William?
在我们继续讨论之前呢，是我们每周的测试时间。William，你在学校的时候自然科学学的好不好？
Not particularly.
不太好。
Good! You’ll be rubbish at this then. OK, the question is: How many genes do human beings have? Is it
太好了，这下你惨了。今天的问题是人类身体中共有多少个基因？是：
a) between 10,000 and 25,000 or is it b) between 100,000 and 250,000 or c) between 1 million and 2.5 million.
a)一万到两万五千个 还是 b) 十万到二十五万个 或者c) 一百万到两百五十万个
Well I have no idea so I’m going to go for c) between 1 million and 2.5 million.
我还真不知道，那我选c吧，一百万到两百五十万个
OK, well the answer will be at the end of the programme.
好的，我们会在节目最后揭晓答案。
Now, a new scientific study has looked at the genes of lots of animals and found traces of the same viruses that existed a long time ago.
目前，一项科学研究观察了很多动物的基因，并发现了很久之前就存在的同一种病毒的痕迹。
Right, they found traces – So they found signs that something happened or existed. And the traces they found were of viruses, the tiny creatures that spread infectious diseases. So Helen, they think that these viruses have existed for millions of years then...?
对的，他们发现了traces（痕迹）---某件事情发生或存在的迹象。而且他们发现的是病毒的痕迹，病毒是指一些传播感染性疾病的微小生物。Helen，他们觉得这些病毒已经存在了几百万年了吗？
Exactly. Let’s listen to a clip from BBC correspondent David Shukman. See if you can hear which animals the researchers studied:
是的，我们来听听来自BBC记者Divid Shukman发回的报道。看看你能不能听出来研究员们研究的到底是哪种动物。
Researchers from Oxford, New York and Belgium have investigated the genes of 38 mammals – including humans, mice, elephants and dolphins, and they’ve found that most of them share traces of the same ancient viruses. The work has established that at least one virus infected our common ancestors as long as one hundred million years ago.
来自牛津、纽约、比利时的研究员，研究了38种哺乳动物的基因，其中包括人类、老鼠、大象和海豚，并发现他们中大多数都有同样一种古老病毒的痕迹。这项工作证实至少有一种病毒在一百万年前就存在于我们共同的祖先之中。
So, did you hear which animals were mentioned?
那么，你听到都提及了哪几种动物了吗？
The researchers investigated 38 different mammals including humans, mice, elephants and dolphins.
研究员研究了38种不同的哺乳类动物，其中包括人类、老鼠、大象和海豚。
That’s right. And by comparing the genes of the animals they’ve concluded that there was at least one virus that infected our ancestors perhaps a hundred million years ago.
对了，通过对这些动物基因的对比，他们得出结论：至少有一种病毒在一百万年前就对我们的祖先产生了影响。
Wow. An ancestor is a person or plant that is related to something today but that lived earlier.So... so what? So what, Helen? What’s the significance of that?
哦，ancestor（祖先）是指与今天的某些东西相关的一个人活或者一种植物，但存在于很久以前。那...那又怎样呢？Helen？这个结论的意义何在？
Well, for a start it suggests that these viruses are incredibly good at survival. And as we will hear in our next clip, these diseases have not only survived, but they also have evolved – they have changed and adapted slowly over a long time.
首先，这表明这些病毒的生存能力极强。在接下来的报道中我们也会听到，这些病毒不仅能够生存，而且还会进化--在过去很长一段时间内他们一直在慢慢地改变、适应。
OK, so let’s hear the next clip now. See if you can hear the word that David Shukman uses instead of the word viruses.
好，现在我们听下面一段报道。看看你能不能听到David Shukman用来代替viruses这个词的其他词语。
The scientists found that these micro-organisms have adapted to stay within their host cell, where they have thrived. So within the double helix of our DNA lies not only a legacy of past infections but also a miniature eco-system in which the viruses live on and evolve.
科学家发现这些微生物已经习惯于和他们的宿主细胞呆在一起，并在那里繁衍兴盛。所以在我们DNA的双螺旋中不仅有以前传染病的遗传基因，还有这些病毒在那里生存进化的微小生态系统。
David Shukman used the word micro-organisms instead of the word viruses. A micro-organism is a very very small creature.
David Shukman用micro-organisms来代替viruses这个词。micro-organism是一种非常非常小的生物。
He said the scientists found that the micro-organisms had thrived, meaning they had prospered, they had developed well. The research suggests that our genes actually help viruses to survive and evolve. And some viruses have developed positive outcomes.For example the protein syncytin evolved from a virus and has helped develop the female placenta.
他说科学家发现微生物在那里兴盛，意思是他们很兴旺，发展的很好。这项研究表明我们的基因实际上是在帮助病毒生存并进化。而且一些病毒已经演化出积极的成果。比如，从一种病毒演化来的合胞体蛋白帮助了女性胎盘的发展。
Right, OK, so these micro-organisms can be good things?
所以这些微生物是好东西了？
Well, they are not exactly ’good’, but they have helped us to evolve.
呃，也不能完全说是“好”，但他们帮助我们进化演变。
Ah sorry, I wasn’t being very ’scientific’! Anyway, Let’s hear the final clip now, and we’re going to hear the opinion of the senior researcher on the project. See if you can hear why he thinks his research could be useful in the future.
哈，不好意思，我实在太不‘专业’了！不管怎么样，我们来听最后一段报道，听一听这个项目资深研究员的看法。看看你能不能听出来为什么他会觉得他的研究在未来能有用。
According to the senior author of the study, Dr Robert Belshaw of Oxford University, understanding these survivors from the distant past may provide clues to the early detection of cancers or infections.
这项研究的创始人，牛津大学的博士Robert Belshaw表示，研究这些从古代幸存下来的微生物可能会对癌症和传染病的早期检查提供线索。
Robert Belshaw thinks understanding the viruses might help the early detection of cancers or infections – they might help us notice these diseases early on.
Robert Belshaw认为研究这些微生物可能会对癌症和传染病的早期检查有所帮助--他们能帮助我们更早的发现这些疾病。
OK, time to hear the answer to our quiz. I asked you how many genes human beings have and you choose c) between 1 million and 2.5 million. Well, the answer is a) 10,000 – 25,000.
是的，现在是揭晓答案的时间了。我的问题是人的身体中有多少个基因，你选的是c，一百万到两百五十万个。那其实正确答案应该是a，一万到两万五千个。
Huh.
呵呵。
Ok, I can tell you’re not that interested in this so why don’t you do something useful and remind us of today’s vocabulary?
好吧，看来你对这个不太感兴趣，那你来做点有用的事吧，带我们复习一下今天的单词怎么样？
Okey-doke.
没问题。
genes, a trace, a virus, an ancestor, to evolve, a micro-organism, to thrive, detection
genes（基因）, a trace（痕迹）, a virus（病毒）, an ancestor（祖先）, to evolve（演变）, a micro-organism（微生物）, to thrive（繁荣，兴旺）, detection（检测、发觉）
If you would like to know more about these words, download our pdf script on bbclearningenglish.com.
如果你想了解更多关于单词解释，请登录bbclearningenglish.com下载PDF字幕。
Goodbye!
下周见！
Bye!
再见~