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纽约市的蚊子消灭战(上)
- Authors
纽约市有5600英亩湿地、15万条雨水下水道和数英里长的老旧污水下水道，这座城市就是一个杂乱庞大的蚊子天堂。
双语精读
In a damp, dungeon-like cell beneath a crumbling military fortress in northeast Queens, Dr. Waheed Bajwa and his team were counting sleeping mosquitoes and trying to divine the future.
在皇后区东北部，一座破败的军事堡垒底部有一个潮湿的地牢般的小房间，在这个房间里，瓦希德·巴杰瓦博士和他的团队正在清点熟睡中的蚊子，并试图预测未来。
Soon the mosquitoes would awaken and secrete rafts of goo into puddles of standing water and lay hundreds of eggs onto them that would hatch into larvae that would feed and grow up and mate and lay eggs of their own -- until sometime in late summer one of their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughters would bite a sparrow infected with West Nile virus and then, perhaps, a human. But that day was months off.
很快，蚊子就会醒来，把大量粘液分泌到静止的水坑里，并产下数以百计的卵，这些卵会孵化成幼虫，这些幼虫会觅食、长大、交配，然后产下自己的卵，直到夏末的某个时候，这些蚊子的一个曾曾曾曾曾曾曾孙女会叮咬一只携带西尼罗病毒的麻雀，然后可能会再去叮咬一个人类。但这要在几个月之后才会发生。
On this balmy morning in mid-February, Dr. Bajwa, a mild-mannered, methodical, relentless medical entomologist who has spent 21 years heading the city Health Department's Office of Vector Surveillance and Control, was hoping to find signs that the coming summer would be merciful.
巴杰瓦博士是一位气质温和、有条不紊、坚持不懈的医学昆虫学家，他作为纽约市卫生局病媒监测和控制办公室的主管，已经在此工作了21年。在二月中旬的一个温暖的早晨，巴杰瓦博士希望找到一些迹象，表明今年会有一个仁慈的夏天。
Last year saw the highest number of human West Nile cases since 1999, when the virus first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in Queens and killed four New Yorkers.
自1999年西尼罗病毒首次出现在西半球的皇后区并导致四名纽约人死亡以来，去年是该病毒病例数量最多的一年。
Now, in the city's 25th year living with the virus, Dr. Bajwa was chasing the goal he had never achieved: to make it through an entire New York summer without a single human case of West Nile.
现在，在纽约与西尼罗病毒共存的第25年，巴杰瓦博士正在追求一个他从未实现过的目标：让纽约在整个夏季不出现一例人类感染西尼罗病毒病例。
Dr. Bajwa's war against mosquitoes and West Nile is waged by air and ground, from the swamps of Staten Island to the manholes of the Upper West Side.
巴杰瓦博士在空陆两地对蚊子和西尼罗病毒宣战，涉及区域从斯塔滕岛的沼泽延伸到上西区的下水道检查井。
In the dripping cell in Queens, Dr. Bajwa pointed a flashlight at the 300 mosquitoes clinging to the ceiling of Entrance 1, Room 3 of the city's official mosquito hibernaculum. Then he pronounced the early results encouraging: "If we would have come last year, there would be thousands actually in one single room."
在不断滴水的皇后区小房间里，300只蚊子趴在1号入口处3号房间的天花板上，这里堪称纽约的官方蚊子冬眠室，巴杰瓦博士用手电筒照着这些蚊子。然后他表示初步结果令人振奋："我们要是去年来这里，一个房间里就会有上千只蚊子。"
New York City, with its 5,600 acres of wetlands, 150,000 storm drains and miles of ancient sewer tunnel, is a sprawling mosquito paradise.
纽约市有5600英亩湿地、15万条雨水下水道和数英里长的老旧污水下水道，这座城市就是一个杂乱庞大的蚊子天堂。
It is home to 47 species of Culicidae, including two that were first recorded in the United States in Dr. Bajwa's 2018 study, "A Taxonomic Checklist and Relative Abundance of the Mosquitoes of New York City."
这里有47种蚊科动物，其中两种在美国首次被记录于巴杰瓦博士2018年的研究论文《纽约市蚊子分类清单和相对丰度》。
The paper revealed that 21 new species had taken up residence here since the last survey in the 1930s. There are bluish mosquitoes, golden mosquitoes, striped mosquitoes, spotted mosquitoes, mosquitoes with apt species names like Aedes excrucians and Aedes vexans.
论文显示，自二十世纪三十年代进行的上一次调查以来，已有21个新种来到纽约。其中有蓝色蚊子、金色蚊子、条纹蚊子、斑点蚊子，以及有贴切名字的蚊子，如刺痛伊蚊和刺扰伊蚊。
But none preoccupy Dr. Bajwa as much as the most common species, Culex pipiens, the northern house mosquito. It's the biggest source of West Nile infection in New York.
但最让巴杰瓦博士感到忧心忡忡的是一种最常见的蚊子：尖音库蚊。这是一种北方的家蚊，也是纽约市西尼罗病毒最大的传染源。
词汇预习
source [高考]
美[sɔːrs] | 英[sɔːs]
n. 来源；发源地；原始资料 v. 从...获得
species [高考]
美[ˈspiːʃiːz] | 英[ˈspiːʃiːz]
n. 种类；（单复同）物种
military [高考]
美[ˈmɪləteri] | 英[ˈmɪlətri]
adj. 军事的 n. 军队
paradise [高考]
美[ˈpærədaɪs] | 英[ˈpærədaɪs]
n. 天堂
residence [高考]
美[ˈrezɪdəns] | 英[ˈrezɪdəns]
n. 住宅；住处；居住
tunnel [高考]
美[ˈtʌnl] | 英[ˈtʌnl]
n. 隧道；地道；洞穴 v. 挖地道；挖隧道
mate [高考]
美[meɪt] | 英[meɪt]
n. 配偶；伙伴；同事 vt. 使 ... 配对；使 ... 一致 vi. 交配
awaken [高考]
美[əˈwekən] | 英[əˈweɪkən]
v. 醒；意识到；唤醒；激起；使意识到；使唤醒
entire [高考]
美[ɪnˈtaɪər] | 英[ɪnˈtaɪə(r)]
adj. 全部的；整个的；完全的 n. 全部；整体；〈英〉一种黑啤酒；种马
beneath [高考]
美[bɪˈniːθ] | 英[bɪˈniːθ]
prep. 在 ... 之下；被...覆盖；低于...；不值得 adv. 在下方；在底下
mild [高考]
美[maɪld] | 英[maɪld]
adj. 温和的；柔和的；宽大的；清淡的
hatch [高考]
美[hætʃ] | 英[hætʃ]
n. 孵化；舱口，舱口盖 v. 孵；孵出；策划
flashlight [高考]
美[ˈflæʃlaɪt] | 英[ˈflæʃlaɪt]
n. 手电筒；闪光灯
damp [高考]
美[dæmp] | 英[dæmp]
adj. 潮湿的；有湿气的；沮丧的 n. 湿气；潮湿 vt. 使潮湿；使扫兴 vi. 变潮湿
northeast [高考]
美[ˌnɔrˈθist] | 英[ˌnɔːθˈiːst]
n. 东北 adj. 东北的；向东北的；来自东北的 adv. 向东北；来自东北
merciful [高考]
美[ˈmɜːrsɪfl] | 英[ˈmɜːsɪfl]
adj. 仁慈的；宽大的
mosquito [高考]
美[məˈskiːtoʊ] | 英[məˈskiːtəʊ]
n. 蚊子
by air [高考]
美[baɪ er] | 英[baɪ eə(r)]
乘飞机
living [高考]
美[ˈlɪvɪŋ] | 英[ˈlɪvɪŋ]
adj. 活着的；生动的 n. 生活；生计
onto [高考]
美[ˈɑːntə , ˈɑːntu] | 英[ˈɒntə , ˈɒntu]
prep. 到 ... 上
bite [高考]
美[baɪt] | 英[baɪt]
v. 咬；叮；蜇 n. 咬；一口；(被咬的)伤痕
infection [高考]
美[ɪnˈfekʃn] | 英[ɪnˈfekʃn]
n. 传染；传染病；影响
would [高考]
美[wʊd , wəd] | 英[wʊd , wəd]
aux. 将；可能；大概；总会；愿意；will的过去式
divine [四级]
美[dɪˈvaɪn] | 英[dɪˈvaɪn]
adj. 神圣的；神的 vt. 推断 vi. 预言；理解 n. 牧师；神学家
mid [四级]
美[mɪd] | 英[mɪd]
adj. 中间的； [语]央元音的 prep. 在 ... 的中间 abbr. 移动互联网设备 (=Mobile Internet Device)
preoccupy [四级]
美[priˈɑːkjupaɪ] | 英[priˈɒkjupaɪ]
v. 先占；使专注于；迷住
make it [四级]
美[mek ɪt] | 英[meik it]
成功 达到预定目标,性交易,幸存
apt [六级]
美[æpt] | 英[æpt]
adj. 恰当的；聪明的；易于 ... 的 abbr. 公寓（=apartment） abbr. 才能；天资（=aptitude）
fortress [六级]
美[ˈfɔːrtrəs] | 英[ˈfɔːtrəs]
n. 堡垒；要塞；防御工事
heading [六级]
美[ˈhedɪŋ] | 英[ˈhedɪŋ]
n. 标题；题目；航向
relentless [六级]
美[rɪˈlentləs] | 英[rɪˈlentləs]
adj. 冷酷无情的；不间断的
saw [专八]
美[sɔː] | 英[sɔː]
n. 锯；谚语，格言 v. 锯，用锯割开；看见，明白（see的过去式）
balmy [专八]
美[ˈbɑːmi] | 英[ˈbɑːmi]
adj. 芳香的；温和的；[俚]疯狂的；古怪的
dungeon [专八]
美[ˈdʌndʒən] | 英[ˈdʌndʒən]
n. 地牢；土牢；城堡主塔
standing [专八]
美[ˈstændɪŋ] | 英[ˈstændɪŋ]
n. 持续；地位 adj. 永久的；不动的；直立的；不流动的
trying [专八]
美[ˈtraɪɪŋ] | 英[ˈtraɪɪŋ]
adj. 难受的；令人厌烦的
methodical [专八]
美[məˈθɑːdɪkl] | 英[məˈθɒdɪkl]
adj. 有条不紊的；井然的
secrete [专八]
美[sɪˈkriːt] | 英[sɪˈkriːt]
vt. 隐藏；隐匿 vt. 分泌
bluish [托福]
美[ˈbluɪʃ] | 英[ˈblu:ɪʃ]
adj. 带蓝色的
pointed [托福]
美[ˈpɔɪntɪd] | 英[ˈpɔɪntɪd]
adj. 尖的；尖锐的；直截了当的；有针对性的
pronounced [托福]
美[prəˈnaʊnst] | 英[prəˈnaʊnst]
adj. 显著的；断然的；明确的
larvae [雅思]
美[ˈlɑrvi] | 英[ˈlɑ:vi:]
n. 幼虫
重点讲解
In a damp, dungeon-like cell beneath a crumbling military fortress in northeast Queens, Dr. Waheed Bajwa and his team were counting sleeping mosquitoes and trying to divine the future.
在皇后区东北部，一座破败的军事堡垒底部有一个潮湿的地牢般的小房间，在这个房间里，瓦希德·巴杰瓦博士和他的团队正在清点熟睡中的蚊子，并试图预测未来。
crumble v.
1. 坍塌；崩裂
【例】That old wall is starting to crumble.
老旧的院墙开始崩塌。
2. （开始渐渐）衰退，崩溃；瓦解
【例】a crumbling position 摇摇欲坠的地位
【近义词】collapse/fall apart 倒塌；崩溃
【拓展】crumb n. 食物碎屑
divine adj. & v.
1. 作形容词：天赐的；非凡的；绝妙的
【例】the divine right of kings/divine will 君权神授/天意
We had a divine time in Switzerland.
我们在瑞士度过了美妙的时光。
2. 作动词：占卜；预言
【例】to divine the fate 算命
Soon the mosquitoes would awaken and secrete rafts of goo into puddles of standing water and lay hundreds of eggs onto them that would hatch into larvae that would feed and grow up and mate and lay eggs of their own -- until sometime in late summer one of their great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-great-granddaughters would bite a sparrow infected with West Nile virus and then, perhaps, a human. But that day was months off.
很快，蚊子就会醒来，把大量粘液分泌到静止的水坑里，并产下数以百计的卵，这些卵会孵化成幼虫，这些幼虫会觅食、长大、交配，然后产下自己的卵，直到夏末的某个时候，这些蚊子的一个曾曾曾曾曾曾曾孙女会叮咬一只携带西尼罗病毒的麻雀，然后可能会再去叮咬一个人类。但这要在几个月之后才会发生。
standing adj.
1. 站着进行的
【例】a standing jump/standing ovation 立定跳远/起立鼓掌
2. 长期存在的；常设的
【例】You have a standing invitation to stay with us whenever you are in Shanghai.
不管你什么时候来上海, 我们都邀请你来我们家住。
3. (液体)不流动的，滞留的
【例】standing water 死水
【近义词】stagnant adj. 不流动的；静止的
infect v.
1. 使感染（病毒、细菌等）
【例】Mosquitoes can infect people with malaria.
蚊子可以让人感染疟疾。
2. 使感染（某种感情）
【例】The teacher infected his pupils with his enthusiasm.
教师用自己的热情感染了学生。
【拓展】infectious adj. 传染性的；有感染力的
【例】an infectious disease/laughter 传染病/有感染力的笑声
On this balmy morning in mid-February, Dr. Bajwa, a mild-mannered, methodical, relentless medical entomologist who has spent 21 years heading the city Health Department's Office of Vector Surveillance and Control, was hoping to find signs that the coming summer would be merciful.
巴杰瓦博士是一位气质温和、有条不紊、坚持不懈的医学昆虫学家，他作为纽约市卫生局病媒监测和控制办公室的主管，已经在此工作了21年。在二月中旬的一个温暖的早晨，巴杰瓦博士希望找到一些迹象，表明今年会有一个仁慈的夏天。
manner n.
1. 方式
【例】in a businesslike manner 以公事公办的方式
【近义词】way n. 方式；方法
2. 举止；态度
【例】His manner was polite but cool.
他举止彬彬有礼，但很冷漠。
3. 礼貌；礼仪
【例】It is bad manners to talk with your mouth full.
嘴里塞满了东西跟人说话是不礼貌的。
Last year saw the highest number of human West Nile cases since 1999, when the virus first appeared in the Western Hemisphere in Queens and killed four New Yorkers.
自1999年西尼罗病毒首次出现在西半球的皇后区并导致四名纽约人死亡以来，去年是该病毒病例数量最多的一年。
chase v.
1. 追赶；追逐
【例】The dog is chasing the rabbit.
狗在撵兔子。
2. 努力获得；争取得到
【例】Too many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays.
如今有太多的人在争取寥寥无几的工作岗位。
wage v. 开始，发动（战争）
【例】to wage a war/campaign 发动战争/开展运动
Now, in the city's 25th year living with the virus, Dr. Bajwa was chasing the goal he had never achieved: to make it through an entire New York summer without a single human case of West Nile.
现在，在纽约与西尼罗病毒共存的第25年，巴杰瓦博士正在追求一个他从未实现过的目标：让纽约在整个夏季不出现一例人类感染西尼罗病毒病例。
chase v.
1. 追赶；追逐
【例】The dog is chasing the rabbit.
狗在撵兔子。
2. 努力获得；争取得到
【例】Too many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays.
如今有太多的人在争取寥寥无几的工作岗位。
wage v. 开始，发动（战争）
【例】to wage a war/campaign 发动战争/开展运动
Dr. Bajwa's war against mosquitoes and West Nile is waged by air and ground, from the swamps of Staten Island to the manholes of the Upper West Side.
巴杰瓦博士在空陆两地对蚊子和西尼罗病毒宣战，涉及区域从斯塔滕岛的沼泽延伸到上西区的下水道检查井。
chase v.
1. 追赶；追逐
【例】The dog is chasing the rabbit.
狗在撵兔子。
2. 努力获得；争取得到
【例】Too many people are chasing too few jobs nowadays.
如今有太多的人在争取寥寥无几的工作岗位。
wage v. 开始，发动（战争）
【例】to wage a war/campaign 发动战争/开展运动
In the dripping cell in Queens, Dr. Bajwa pointed a flashlight at the 300 mosquitoes clinging to the ceiling of Entrance 1, Room 3 of the city's official mosquito hibernaculum. Then he pronounced the early results encouraging: "If we would have come last year, there would be thousands actually in one single room."
在不断滴水的皇后区小房间里，300只蚊子趴在1号入口处3号房间的天花板上，这里堪称纽约的官方蚊子冬眠室，巴杰瓦博士用手电筒照着这些蚊子。然后他表示初步结果令人振奋："我们要是去年来这里，一个房间里就会有上千只蚊子。"
cling to
1. 紧紧抓着
【例】She clung to the handrail as she walked down the slippery steps.
她紧紧抓着栏杆，从滑溜溜的楼梯上走下来。
2. 附着；萦绕不散
【例】The smell of smoke still clung to his clothes.
烟味仍附着在他的衣服上，一直不散。
3. 不愿放弃；坚持
【例】cling to one last hope 紧紧抓着最后的希望
New York City, with its 5,600 acres of wetlands, 150,000 storm drains and miles of ancient sewer tunnel, is a sprawling mosquito paradise.
纽约市有5600英亩湿地、15万条雨水下水道和数英里长的老旧污水下水道，这座城市就是一个杂乱庞大的蚊子天堂。
sewer n. 污水管；下水道
【例】a system of sewers 下水道系统
【拓展】sewage n. （下水道的）污水
sprawl v.
1. 伸开四肢（坐或躺）
【例】to sprawl on the grass 伸开手脚躺在草地上
2. 蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展
【例】The refugee camps sprawl across the landscape.
难民营杂乱地在土地上延伸过去。
【近义词】sweep v. 蜿蜒地延伸
【例】The hotel gardens sweep down to the beach.
旅馆的花园一直向下蜿蜒延伸到海滩。
It is home to 47 species of Culicidae, including two that were first recorded in the United States in Dr. Bajwa's 2018 study, "A Taxonomic Checklist and Relative Abundance of the Mosquitoes of New York City."
这里有47种蚊科动物，其中两种在美国首次被记录于巴杰瓦博士2018年的研究论文《纽约市蚊子分类清单和相对丰度》。
sewer n. 污水管；下水道
【例】a system of sewers 下水道系统
【拓展】sewage n. （下水道的）污水
sprawl v.
1. 伸开四肢（坐或躺）
【例】to sprawl on the grass 伸开手脚躺在草地上
2. 蔓延；杂乱无序地拓展
【例】The refugee camps sprawl across the landscape.
难民营杂乱地在土地上延伸过去。
【近义词】sweep v. 蜿蜒地延伸
【例】The hotel gardens sweep down to the beach.
旅馆的花园一直向下蜿蜒延伸到海滩。
The paper revealed that 21 new species had taken up residence here since the last survey in the 1930s. There are bluish mosquitoes, golden mosquitoes, striped mosquitoes, spotted mosquitoes, mosquitoes with apt species names like Aedes excrucians and Aedes vexans.
论文显示，自二十世纪三十年代进行的上一次调查以来，已有21个新种来到纽约。其中有蓝色蚊子、金色蚊子、条纹蚊子、斑点蚊子，以及有贴切名字的蚊子，如刺痛伊蚊和刺扰伊蚊。
apt adj.
1. 恰当的；贴切的
【例】an apt description 贴切的描述
【拓展】aptly 贴切地
【例】The flat peach is aptly called “donut peach”.
这种扁扁的桃子有一个贴切的名字，叫“甜甜圈桃子”（蟠桃）。
2. 易于……；有……倾向
【例】Babies are apt to put objects into their mouths.
婴儿爱把东西往嘴里塞。
preoccupy v. 使忧心忡忡；使日思夜想
【例】Economic concerns are preoccupying the voters in this election.
经济问题让此次选举的选民们感到忧心忡忡。
【辨析】occupy v. 占用；使忙于
But none preoccupy Dr. Bajwa as much as the most common species, Culex pipiens, the northern house mosquito. It's the biggest source of West Nile infection in New York.
但最让巴杰瓦博士感到忧心忡忡的是一种最常见的蚊子：尖音库蚊。这是一种北方的家蚊，也是纽约市西尼罗病毒最大的传染源。
apt adj.
1. 恰当的；贴切的
【例】an apt description 贴切的描述
【拓展】aptly 贴切地
【例】The flat peach is aptly called “donut peach”.
这种扁扁的桃子有一个贴切的名字，叫“甜甜圈桃子”（蟠桃）。
2. 易于……；有……倾向
【例】Babies are apt to put objects into their mouths.
婴儿爱把东西往嘴里塞。
preoccupy v. 使忧心忡忡；使日思夜想
【例】Economic concerns are preoccupying the voters in this election.
经济问题让此次选举的选民们感到忧心忡忡。
【辨析】occupy v. 占用；使忙于
课后练习
What can be learned about the mosquitoes in the cell?
A. They feed on grass and multiply quickly.
B. They are bred for scientific research.
C. They can infect humans with a disease.
D. They will die out in several months.
What was the goal of Dr. Bajwa?
A. He hoped to kill off all the mosquitoes.
B. He hoped to find the cure for the virus.
C. He hoped to predict the number of cases this summer.
D. He hoped to prevent any case of the virus from occurring.
Dr. Bajwa’s attitude towards the early observation was ____.
A. uncertain
B. optimistic
C. pessimistic
D. concerned
Which of the following is true about New York City?
A. It is a suitable habitat for mosquitoes.
B. It suffers from severe water pollution.
C. It lacks sufficient records of mosquitoes.
D. It has seen a declining number of mosquitoes.