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To raise new questions, new possibilities, to regard old problems from a new angle, requires creative imagination and marks real advance in science. ***Reading and thinking (pages 2-3)***
--课文翻译--
JOHN SNOW DEFEATS “KING CHOLERA”
Cholera used to be one of the most feared diseases in the world, until a British doctor. John Snow, showed how it couldbe overcome. This illness causes severe diarrhoea, dehydration, and even death. In the early 19th century, when an outbreak of cholera hit Europe, millions of people died from the disease. As a young doctor, John Snow became frustrated because no one knew how to prevent or treat cholera. In time, he rose to become a famous doctor, and even attended to Queen Victoria when she gave birth. However, he never lost his desire to destroy cholera once and for all.
In general,doctors in those days had two contradictory theories to explain how cholera spread. One theory was that bad air caused the disease. Another was that cholera was caused by an infection from germs in food or water. Snow subscribed to the second theory. It was correct, but he still needed proof. Consequently, when an outbreak of cholera hit London in 1854, Snow began to investigate. He discovered that in two particular streets the cholera outbreak was so severe that more than 500 people died in ten days. He was determined to find out why.
Snow began by marking on a map the exact places where all those who died hadlived. There were multiple deaths near the water pump in Broad Street (especially house numbers 16, 37, 38, and40). However, some households (suchas 20 and 21 Broad Street, and 8 and 9 Cambridge Street) had had no deaths.These people worked in the pub at 7 Cambridge Street. They had been given freebeer, and so had not drunk the water from the pump. Snow suspected that the water pump was to blame.What is more, in another part of London, a woman and her daughter had died of cholera after moving away from Broad Street. It seemed that the woman liked the water from the pump so much that she had it delivered to her house every day. As a result of this evidence, John Snow was able to announce that the pump water carried cholera germs. Accordingly, he had the handle of the pump removed so that it could not be used. Through this intervention, the disease was stopped in its tracks.
The truth was that the water from the Broad Street pump had been infected by waste. Moreover, Snow was later able toshow a link between other cases of cholera and the different water companies in London. Some companies sold water from the River Thames that was polluted byraw waste. The people who drank this water were much more likely to get cholera than those who drank pure or boiled water.
Through Snow’s tireless efforts, water companies began to sell clean water and the threat of cholera around the world saw a substantial decrease. However, cholera is still a problem. Each year, millions of people around the world get cholera and many die from it. Fortunately, we now know how to prevent cholera, thanks to the work of John Snow. Moreover, in his use of maps and statistics, Snow transformed the way scientists study diseases. For this reason, Snow is considered the father of modern epidemiology.
约输•斯诺战胜“霍乱王”
在英国医生约翰・斯诺向人们展示如何战胜霍乱之前，霍乱曾是世界上最令人恐惧的疾病之一。它可导致严重腹泻、脱水甚至死亡。十九世纪初，崔乱暴发，肆虐欧洲，数百万人丧命。由于当时无人知道如何预防或治疗霍乱，年轻的约翰・斯诺医生很沮丧。后来，他成了一位名医。甚至照料分娩的维多利亚女王。然而，他始终没有放弃彻底根除霍乱的愿望。
关于霍乱的蔓延方式，当时医生大体上有两种截然不同的看法。一种看法是空气污染引发，另一种看法是食物或饮用水中的细菌感染导致霍乱。斯诺赞同第二种看法。这一看法是正确的，但他仍需要证据。因此，1854年伦敦暴发霍乱时，斯诺便开始调查。他发现霍乱疫情在两条街道上尤为严重，十天内就有500多人死亡。他决心查明原因。
斯诺首先在地图上标出所有死者住所的确切位置。宽街水泵附近有多例死亡(尤其是16号、37号、38号及40号住宅)，但是有些住户(如宽街20号和21号以及剑桥街8号和9号)却无人死亡。这些幸存者在剑桥街7号的酒吧工作，酒吧为他们提供免费啤酒，因此没有喝水泵抽上来的水。斯诺怀疑水泵就是罪魁祸首。此外，在伦敦的另一个区域，一名妇女和她的女儿从宽街搬来后死于霍乱。该妇女似乎非常喜欢从水泵抽上来的水，每天都让人从那里打水运到家里来。有了这个证据，约翰·斯诺就能够宣布水泵抽上来的水携带霍乱病菌。于是，他让人拆掉了水泵的把手，这样水泵就用不成了。这一干预举措遏制了疾病的蔓延。
事情的真相是宽街水泵抽上来的水被废弃物污染了。此外，斯诺之后还证明了另外几起霍乱病例与伦敦多家饮用水公司有关。有些公司出售的水取自被未处理的废弃物污染的泰晤士河。与饮用纯浄水或开水的人相比，饮用被污染的水的人更容易染上霍乱。
经过斯诺的不懈努力，饮用水公司开始出售洁净水，世界各地霍乱的威胁大幅降低。然而，霍乱仍是问题。每年全球有数百万人感染霍乱，其中许多人因此丧生。幸运的是，由于约翰・斯诺的努力，我们现在知道了如何预防霍乱。此外，通过使用地图和数据，斯诺改变了科学家研究疾病的方式。因此，斯诺被誉为现代流行病学之父。 |
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