17 · 人为的疾病
A Man-made Disease
区分观点、依据、例子与限制，用自己的话准确重建论述。
课文精读整篇课文
点选一句，句末即可听读；连起意思，大声读一遍。
In the early days of the settlement of Australia, enterprising settlers unwisely introduced the European rabbit. This rabbit had no natural enemies in the Antipodes, so that it multiplied with that promiscuous abandon characteristic of rabbits. It overran a whole continent. It caused devastation by burrowing and by devouring the herbage which might have maintained millions of sheep and cattle. Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit and apparently no other animal was susceptible to a fatal virus disease, myxomatosis. By infecting animals and letting them loose in the burrows, local epidemics of this disease could be created. Later it was found that there was a type of mosquito which acted as the carrier of this disease and passed it on to the rabbits. So while the rest of the world was trying to get rid of mosquitoes, Australia was encouraging this one. It effectively spread the disease all over the continent and drastically reduced the rabbit population. It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance to this disease, so that the rabbit population was unlikely to be completely exterminated. There were hopes, however, that the problem of the rabbit would become manageable.
Ironically, Europe, which had bequeathed the rabbit as a pest to Australia, acquired this man-made disease as a pestilence. A French physician decided to get rid of the wild rabbits on his own estate and introduced myxomatosis. It did not, however, remain within the confines of his estate. It spread through France, where wild rabbits are not generally regarded as a pest but as a sport and a useful food supply, and it spread to Britain where wild rabbits are regarded as a pest but where domesticated rabbits, equally susceptible to the disease, are the basis of a profitable fur industry. The question became one of whether Man could control the disease he had invented.
本课原文与译文
展开完整文本 · 便于查阅与检索
整篇课文
In the early days of the settlement of Australia, enterprising settlers unwisely introduced the European rabbit. This rabbit had no natural enemies in the Antipodes, so that it multiplied with that promiscuous abandon characteristic of rabbits. It overran a whole continent. It caused devastation by burrowing and by devouring the herbage which might have maintained millions of sheep and cattle. Scientists discovered that this particular variety of rabbit and apparently no other animal was susceptible to a fatal virus disease, myxomatosis. By infecting animals and letting them loose in the burrows, local epidemics of this disease could be created. Later it was found that there was a type of mosquito which acted as the carrier of this disease and passed it on to the rabbits. So while the rest of the world was trying to get rid of mosquitoes, Australia was encouraging this one. It effectively spread the disease all over the continent and drastically reduced the rabbit population. It later became apparent that rabbits were developing a degree of resistance to this disease, so that the rabbit population was unlikely to be completely exterminated. There were hopes, however, that the problem of the rabbit would become manageable.
Ironically, Europe, which had bequeathed the rabbit as a pest to Australia, acquired this man-made disease as a pestilence. A French physician decided to get rid of the wild rabbits on his own estate and introduced myxomatosis. It did not, however, remain within the confines of his estate. It spread through France, where wild rabbits are not generally regarded as a pest but as a sport and a useful food supply, and it spread to Britain where wild rabbits are regarded as a pest but where domesticated rabbits, equally susceptible to the disease, are the basis of a profitable fur industry. The question became one of whether Man could control the disease he had invented.
澳大利亚殖民初期，一些积极开拓的移民做了一件不明智的事：引进欧洲兔。兔子在这片南半球土地上没有天敌，便以兔类特有的惊人繁殖力毫无节制地繁衍，最终泛滥整个大陆。它们到处打洞，吃掉本可养活数百万只羊和牛的牧草，造成严重破坏。科学家后来发现，这一品种的兔子容易感染一种致命的病毒性疾病——黏液瘤病，而其他动物似乎不受影响。只要让兔子染病，再把它们放回洞穴，就能使这种病在局部流行。后来人们又发现，有一种蚊子能携带病原，把疾病传给兔子。于是，当世界其他地方都在设法灭蚊时，澳大利亚却在鼓励这种蚊子繁殖。它有效地把疾病传播到整个大陆，使兔子数量锐减。后来，兔子逐渐产生了一定的抗病能力，看来不太可能被彻底消灭。不过，人们仍希望兔患能得到控制。
讽刺的是，欧洲把兔子带到澳大利亚，使之成为当地的祸害，自己却又迎来了这种人为传播的疫病。法国一名医生为了清除自家庄园里的野兔，引入了黏液瘤病。但疾病并未停留在庄园范围内，而是传遍法国。在法国，野兔通常不被看成害兽，而是狩猎对象和有用的食物来源。疾病随后又传到英国。英国虽把野兔视为害兽，但同样容易染病的家兔，却支撑着利润可观的毛皮产业。问题于是变成：人类能否控制自己引入的这种疾病？
学完这一课
说明一种被浪费资源原本可能发挥的作用。
译文依据整理稿，由本站按中文表达重新校订；解析据吴应时整理资料及首轮审校稿；词伙与练习提示为本站学习设计。原PDF第68—71页，2022年2月第2版。